Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE
by child of the gallows
Summary: Sequel to Eternal Karaoke. This Time, you're running the show. Not accepting any reviews anymore! But it's not over yet, I still have about 25 chapters to write!
1. Santeria, Sublime

**Alrighty. Here we go on the first installment of Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE. I know you're excited. Problem: I need everyone who reviewed for chapter one to re-review for chapter two. Applaudissement Sonique… Neon… I have a feeling I'm going to use the Creep suggestion, so just review your personality + crap for that. Thanks for being patient, all. **

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 1: Santeria, by Sublime

SPECIAL THANKS TO GRAYJACK72

DustyStroodle put a hand over her eyes and turned away from her friends. "Give me the hat." She commanded, sticking out an arm. Rubberducky held out Frederic's top hat that was filled to the brim with scraps of paper. She stuck her arm into the hat, fished around for a bit, and finally selected a single scrap of paper.

"Flyleaf, if you would…" DustyStroodle said, handing the scrap to her friend.

Flyleaf took the paper and unfolded it carefully. "The first winner is… Grayjack72." She said bluntly, eyes traveling over the paper.

"Got that?" Rubberducky asked, turning to Crazywing.

"Totally. I'll get him." Crazywing turned on her heel and went onstage. She came back a few minutes later with a dude in a gray jacket. [1]

"Grayjack72," Rubberducky said.

"Call me Gray."

"Alright, Gray. Here's what you're gonna do." Rubberducky pulled out a sheet of paper from her pocket. "You're going to… blah, blah, blah… et cetera, et cetera… ah, here we go. You're supposed to meet the character, tell him/her what song he/she is going to be singing, and you get to sit in Waltz's throne if you so choose."

"Cool," Gray said, smiling a little.

"Got the CD?" DustyStroodle asked.

"'Course." He said, handing the girl a manila envelope. Then he gave a thumbs up and went to sit on Waltz's throne. Taking on a tone eerily similar to Waltz's, he began in a commanding voice, "Frederic. You're up first. The song you will be singing is Santeria by Sublime. Oh, and before you go out there, take this."

Out of his pocket, he produced a brown fedora. [2] "Put this on, and don't screw up." He tossed it and it landed perfectly perched on Frederic's head.

He was un-handcuffed and escorted by DustyStroodle. "Okay, this is the first chapter." She muttered to him as they walked to the curtain. "I know it's going to be a little awkward, but get used to it. The reviewers are pretty much screaming for you."

Frederic's shoulders slumped. "But I just went!" He complained.

"Suck it up, baby," DustyStroodle shot him a disgusted look. "There are things in life you aren't gonna want to do. This is one of them. Now get out there and sing your butt off!"

She pushed him out of the curtain. By force of habit, Frederic reached for the brim of his hat, only to remember that it was a fedora, and a much bigger one at that. Instead of falling off, it just fell over his eyes.

Rubberducky handed him the microphone and patted him on the back. "It's not that bad. I'm sure everyone knows this song."

"Lights!" Flyleaf shouted. "Camera! Scribe!" she glared pointedly at the person sitting at a laptop in the corner. "Music! Roll call!"

"Here!"Chorused all four girls running the show. [3]

"Judges!"

Frederic finally noticed the three judges sitting at a long table near the foot of the stage. Just one look at those faces and he was almost sure he wouldn't do too well in their eyes—er, ears—because the judges were Polka, Captain Dolce, and the infamous Count Waltz.

"ACTION!"

A guitar line started up. Before Frederic knew it, the words were upon him.

_"I don't practice Santeria, I ain't got no crystal ball. Well, I had a million dollars but I, I'd spend it all. If I could find that heina and that sancho that she'd found, well, I'd pop a cap in sancho and I'd slap- her- doooowwwwn." _

Okkaaaayyyy then…

_"What I really wanna know, ah baby, oooooo, what I really want to say I can't define, well, it's love that I neeeeedddd… oooohhhhh, my soul will have to wait till I get back. Find a heina of my own. Daddy's gonna love one and all. I feel the break, feel the break, feeeeel the break, and I gotta live it out, oooooohhh yeah, uh-huh,"_

Dear lord, was that "oh yeah, uh huh" real? Freakish… had his depression in the fact that he was karaoke-ing again hurt him so much that he was trying?

_"Well, I swear that I, what I really want to know, ah baby, what I really want to say I can't define, GOT- LOVE! Make it gooooooooooo… my soul will have to—"_

Frederic had taken a breath to continue singing, and it surprised him so much that the song went into the bridge that he forgot that he couldn't lean his head forward and the fedora fell over his eyes again. But reflecting back on the song, he… couldn't remember any of it. _DAMN IT!!!!_ He pretty much screamed in his head. The only thing that stuck was the part that he repeated… "what I really want to know…" or something.

_"Oooooooohhh, what I really want to say, ah, baby, what I really want to say is I've got mine. And I'll make it! Yes, I'm going up!"_

Optimism? In such an unusual song? He'd never heard anything like it. But then again, he stuck to the classical music genre ninety-nine percent of the time…

_"Tell sanchito that if he knows what is good for him he best go run and hide. DADDY'S GOT A NEW .45. And I won't think twice to stick that barrel down sancho's throat--" _

Oooohhhh, fun. Then the meaning of the song hit him smack on the face and he instantly regretted ever enjoying singing the line about the .45. He hoped Allegretto would understand…

_"—believe me when I say that I got something for his punk-ass. What I really wanna know, ah, baby, what I really wanna say is there's just one- way back. And I'll maaaaaaaaaaake it, my soul will have to waaaaaaaaaaaaayaaaayt."_

And the song faded to an end. Now for the new part—the Judges. Flyleaf came and took the microphone from Frederic and turned to the audience.

"Nice choice, Gray! Way to hit him where it hurts!" She smiled. "Now, what do our judges think…? Polka, would you like to start?"

Polka smiled shyly. "I really liked it. You have a nice voice, Frederic."

"How about you, Captain Dolce?" Flyleaf asked.

"I always knew there was somethin' goin' on 'tween you two." She began, "And I'll be sure to stay out of it, but either way, you do have an excellent voice and I hope I never have to stand where you do right now."

"And Count Waltz?"

"I agree about the voice, and even though I hate your guts, I'm doing this from a purely professional standing." He said thoughtfully. "Do you really have a new .45 that you're gonna stick down Feather Boy's throat? Because if you do, can I pull the trigger?"

"No and no." Frederic said.

"Damn." He growled. "Oh, and I also liked how you called him 'punk ass.'"

"I didn't write the song, Waltz," Frederic sighed exasperatedly.

"Ooooooohhhhh… that would explain some things! Love the fedora."

"Thank you, Frederic. Time to go backstage," Flyleaf said, shooing him away.

Backstage, he was chained back into line by Crazywing. Gray approached him.

"Nice to meet you, man." Gray said. "Hope you miss me. I'll be back someday (I hope.)"

Frederic's mannerisms got the best of him. "Nice to meet you to, I guess, and to tell the truth, I hope I never see you again."

"That's what I'm here for," was all he said as he retrieved his fedora and took his leave. "By the way… CLAVES DESERVES JAZZ[4]."

Saying that with all three lovers of Jazz around is like lighting the fuse on a canister of dynamite. Mind you, it is a very short fuse, and it blows up almost instantaneously. So as the first lucky contestant took his leave, he smiled at the relaxing sounds of a chick fight behind him.

"JAZZ IS MINE, YOU'RE ALL LOSERS!"

"HE WAS MINE FIRST!"

"I GREW UP WITH THE DAMN GUY!"

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – I am sorry if you do not wear a gray jacket. When I think of your name, Grayjack72, I see a guy in a gray jacket. I get some creative license too, you know.

[2] – I don't know how you fit a fedora in your pocket! Don't ask me! I just saw a pic of the band and they were all wearing brown fedoras and I thought it would be a cool idea!

[3] – Those girls seem to be everywhere at once, don't they?

[4] – I don't know if you are a ClavesxJazz supporter, but I needed something to spark the argument.

**And it's over. Man, that was really fun to write, and totally worth 99 cents on iTunes. Sorry if I didn't get you completely right, Grayjack72, but you can't say I didn't try. Don't flame me. Hope you enjoyed it anyway.**


	2. Diary of Jane, Breaking Benjamin

**And chapter two. Keep reviewing songs, I'm surprisingly understocked. Neither me (child of the gallows) or pyromaniac275 own anything… unless Pyro does own something, then maybe he could hand the rights over to me for a day so I don't have to write a disclaimer.**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 2: Diary of Jane, by Breaking Benjamin

SPECIAL THANKS TO PYROMANIAC275

Flyleaf stuck her hand into the newly christened TOP HAT OF FATE, and drew a scrap of paper. "Crazywing?"

"Of course I would!" she slowly unfolded the paper. "The next winner is Pyromaniac275." She announced proudly. "I can feel it. Jazz is nearby!"

"Jazz is standing right behind you, Crazywing," Rubberducky smiled slyly and glanced over at DustyStroodle. "Hey, he's your type. Pyromaniac." [1]

DustyStroodle turned all shades of red and glared at her friend. "I am NOT a pyromaniac! I just like fire slightly more than the normal person!" She huffed. "Besides, how do you know he's a pyromaniac? He might have just thought it was a catchy name."

"Pyromaniac." Rubberducky repeated.

"I'll go get the contestant." DustyStroodle offered quickly, glaring venom at Rubberducky. She left and came back a minute later.

"Pyromaniac275, meet Flyleaf, Crazywing, and Rubberducky." She said.

"Hey," Pyromaniac275 said. "Call me Pyro. I brought my guitar; can I play the guitar in the song?"

"Sure, sure, whatever you want," Crazywing said. "Tell me if Jazz has something to do with your song!"

"Well, he is one of the judg—"

Pyro was cut off by one of Crazywing's fangirlish squees that rose above the noise of the crowd outside.

"Loud, much?" he muttered, rubbing his ear. "Here's the CD, anyway, I think I know what to do."

"Don't hurt yourself," Flyleaf said, taking the CD. "I'll bring this to the deejay."

Meanwhile, Pyro sat back on Waltz's throne and addressed the chain of fictional characters standing before him.

"Viola! I choose you! …Man, that was so Pokèmon." He thought for a moment, then strummed a little bit on the guitar. "Viola." He tried again, "The song you will be singing is Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin. I will be your guitarist and you will address me as such."

"Alright, guitarist," Viola said.

"Nah, I don't like it, call me Pyro." He said, nodding to himself. Then he stood up and went onstage.

DustyStroodle un-handcuffed Viola and escorted her to the curtain.

Viola stepped out onstage. Rubberducky handed her the microphone. "Alright ladies, let's start this baby up!"

"Lights!" Flyleaf called. "Camera! Scribe! Music!"

Pyro played an impressive guitar line.

"Roll call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

Pyro tapped Viola on the shoulder and explained: "On the far right is Jazz, you know him. Middle is Benjamin Burnley, from the band. Left is Serj Tankian."

"ACTION!"

Pyro started off the song with his guitar. It was a haunting tune, like something that belonged playing on Halloween night.

_"If I had to, I would put myself right beside you, so let me ask, WOULD YOU LIKE THAT? WOULD YOU LIKE THAT? And I don't mind if you say this love is the last time, so now I'll ask DO YOU LIKE THAT? DO YOU LIKE THAT?"_

_"NOOOOO!" _Viola pretty much screamed into the microphone. Pyro helped out as well.

_"Something's getting in the way. Something's just about to break. I will try to find my place in the Diary of Jane! So, tell, me, how, it, should BEEEEEEE!"_

The "BEEEEE" sounded more like a "BAAAAAYYY" when Pyro joined in, and Viola was pretty glad for his presence. His guitar was loud and it helped her get more into the song.

_"Try to find out what makes you tick as I lie down sore and sick, do you like that? Do you like that?"_

Pyro was a pretty good guitar player. Sometimes, Viola might catch a missed note, but otherwise it was flawless.

_"There's a fine line between love and hate and I don't mind, just let me say that I like that, I- like- that!"_

_**No matter how terribly the characters hate karaoke, they always seem to get into the song one way or another**_**,** Pyro noticed as he played. He liked the way Viola said 'love and hate,' just like Ben did.

"_Something's getting in the way, something's just about to break. I will try to find my place in the Diary of Jane! As I burn another page, as I look the other way, I still try to find my place in the Diary of Jane! So tell me how it should BEEEEEEE!"_

This time, Viola tried out the "BAAAAAYYY" with Pyro, and it sounded pretty cool. She snuck a peek at Jazz as Pyro played the bridge. He had a thoughtful look on his face, like he was evaluating. No matter how good of friends they were, Jazz was going to say the truth of how he thought she sang.

_"Desperate, I will crawl. Waiting for so long, no love, there is no love, die for anyone, WHAT HAVE I BECOME???"_

It was disturbing how Viola's voice rose to scream into the microphone.

_"Something's getting in the way. Something's just about to break. I will try to find my place in the Diary of Jane. As I burn another page, as I look the other way, I still try to find my place in the Diary of Jane!"_

As Pyro's final chords faded, the song ended.

"Excellent, excellent," DustyStroodle said, standing between Viola and Pyro. "Judges? Jazz, you first."

Jazz leaned forward in his seat a little bit. "Well, yeah, it was good, but… I don't see how this relates to your life at all, Viola."

"Okay, slow down, Jazz," Ben stepped in. "I know you're fictional and all, but don't be stupid. I thought it was good, too, by the way, V. Anyway, this song is about a relationship where the dude loved the girl but the girl never loved the dude. This is a dude's perspective." He explained. Jazz still looked clueless.

"Serj?" DustyStroodle said.

"Eh… It was okay." He said. "Keep working on those solos, kid."

"Thanks, judges. Now backstage with you two." DustyStroodle said, glaring.

"'Course." Viola said. She was a little depressed at what Jazz had said. Was he really that clueless? Especially after the fight last chapter?

"Well, it's over," Pyro sighed. "Nice to meet the characters and all. Later."

"Later," All the characters replied miserably.

"Oh, wait!" Viola said. "Are you really a pyromaniac?"

Pyro paused. "The doctor said it wasn't _that_ bad." He said. "Plus it's better than being called 'Pyrokinetic' [2] all the time. That's what I am. Here's something to remember me by." He pointed a finger at the ground and a little fire started burning. Then he wrote the message PYROMANIAC275 WUZ HERE.

"Thanks?"

"No prob."

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – Okay, I have no idea if you're really a pyromaniac or not, but my friend is, slightly and I'm not even lying. Don't be offended, the poke was more toward her than you.

[2] – Pyrokinetic- a term coined by Stephen King in one of his novels (I don't know which one) where one controls fire. Pretty cool, huh? Though I highly doubt you're pyrokinetic, I thought it would be a good idea.

**Chappy 2 is done! Fina-fricken-ly. Keep reviewing. Don't flame me. And BTW, that is a really good song. PM me if you have a problem.**


	3. Black Balloon, Goo Goo Dolls

**Whew! Finally, I've finished another chapter. I don't know about you, but I had a problem finding that song on youtube. Anyway, here goes nothing… that I own, that is.**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 3: Black Balloon, by the Goo Goo Dolls

SPECIAL THANKS TO ESISMYLIFE

Crazywing took the Top Hat of Fate from DustyStroodle and threw it up in the air. The contents scattered everywhere.

"Crazywing, you—" Rubberducky began, but stopped when Crazywing caught a scrap of paper as it floated down.

"Rubberducky." She said, handing the scrap to her friend. Rubberducky took it.

"You are so dead…" she said, then unfolded the paper. "The next winner is esismylife."

"I suppose the 'es' in their name stands for Eternal Sonata[1]?" DustyStroodle guessed.

"I suppose," Crazywing said. "NOW GET THE CONTESTANT!!!"

Rubberducky scurried off.

"Jazz again?" Flyleaf asked.

"I can feel it."

Rubberducky returned with a rather tired-looking girl in tow. "May I present esismylife?" she said.

The girl yawned. "Call me… Jana…"

Crazywing seized her by the shoulders. "Say something about Jazz!!!" She screamed. Jana sneezed.

"One of… performers…" she moaned, then rubbed her eyes.

"One of?" Flyleaf quoted.

"Here… CD." She handed Flyleaf the traditional manila envelope.

"To the deejay!" Flyleaf said, handing the envelope over to Crazywing. Then she continued: "Introduce yourself, sit on Waltz's throne, and—WAKE UP!—don't get too comfortable."

Jana rubbed her eyes again and nodded. Then she trudged over to the throne. "Frederic, Allegretto, Jazz… song, Goo Goo Dolls, Black Balloon."

"All three of us?" Allegretto asked.

Jana nodded.

The three remaining host-girls un-handcuffed the three performers and sent them to the curtain. Already, Crazywing had the lyrics copied onto the notecards and was waving furiously to Jazz.

The three were handed their microphones.

"This is gonna suck." Jazz muttered.

"Tell me about it," Frederic agreed. "I hate when I have to go…"

"I have a feeling they're not going to give you a break," Allegretto said.

Frederic nodded glumly.

"Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

The performers' eyes were dragged forcefully to the table of judges. Their nameplates read BRITNEY SPEARS, PARIS HILTON, and AVRIL LAVIGNE. Frederic had to slap his friends to get them to stop staring.

"ACTION!!!"

A quiet introduction started up. The guitar phased in, and the notecard told Jazz to start.

_"Baby's black balloon makes her fly."_

Frederic's turn. _"I almost fell into that hole in your life."_

_"And you're not thinking about tomorrow, 'cause you were the same as me—"_

Allegretto supplied.

_"But on your kneeeeeeeeeess…" _All three sang.

A pause in the singing gave time to think. The only person with relatively intelligent thoughts at the moment was Allegretto, because Jazz was hating music and everything to do with it, and Frederic was busy feeling sorry for himself. The song reminded Allegretto of Polka…

_"A thousand other boys could never reach you," _Jazz's voice cracked.

_"How could I have been the one? I saw the world spin beneath you--" _Frederic continued.

_"And scatter like ice from the spoon that was your womb," _Allegretto's microphone squeaked and he moved a little further away from his friends.

_"Coming down, the world turned over, and angels fall without you there, and I go on as you get colder… Or are you someone's prayer?" _the three sang in near-harmony. Jazz fell a bit behind, but Crazywing didn't care. She supplied a squee when the line was over.

The music was subtly faster at this point. Allegretto was enjoying himself somewhat. Frederic's self-pity thoughts had faded, and he was now mulling over the song pleasantly. Jazz had a tight grimace on his face.

_"You know the lies they always told you, and the love you never knew?"_ Allegretto began the verse this time.

_"What's the things they never showed you that swallowed the light from the sun inside your room? Yeeaaaahhh…" _Frederic sang with a little more feeling than he meant.

_"Coming down, the world turned over, and angels fall without you there, and I go on as you get colder… Or are you someone's prayer?" _Jazz had to sing the whole chorus by himself. He felt his face grow hot as he royally screwed up a few notes.

A pause in the singing.

_"And there's no time left for losing." _Allegretto smiled faintly.

_"When you stand, they fall yeaaaahhhhhhhh…" _Frederic's 'yeah' carried on as the others continued the song.

_"Comin' down, the world turned over, and angels fall without you there, and I go on as you get colder, all because I'm—"_

Frederic sang this line by himself. _"Coming down, the years turn over,"_

Jazz, this time. _"And angels fall without you there."_

Allegretto: _"And I'll go on now and lead you home and—"_

The three sang together. _"All because I'm… All because I'm, and I'll become what you became to me…"_

A tune similar to the one at the beginning finished up as the song came to a halt. Crazywing came to introduce the judges.

"Excellent!" She said, just barely able to contain her excitement, for she was standing less than three feet away from Jazz. "Judges? Britney?"

Britney Spears jumped excitedly to the microphone. "I so totally loved it you guys! You sang it with such feeling…" she trailed off dreamily. "You should, like, get an Oscar!"

Allegretto muttered to his friends. "I think she's got the wrong award…"

"Paris?"

"You could totally get a record." She cocked her head to the side. "But I think Britney would be your number one fan still."

"Avril?"

The black-clothed girl leaned back in your seat. "I have no problem with the Goo Goo Dolls, they're one of my favorite bands, actually…" she began. "And top hat and gray hair did really well, but… ponytail, you need to work on it."

Jazz flushed. Crazywing barely suppressed a squee. "Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks."

The three were sent backstage. There they found Jana napping in Waltz's seat. Waltz was complaining loudly.

"JANA!" Flyleaf screamed to wake her up.

"Wha—oh, it's over already?" Jana yawned. "Oh. That's really fun. I guess I have to go…"

"Goodbye, Jana." Crazywing said. "Thank you for making Jazz perform!"

"Wait, Jazz performed…? Oh yeah! Okay." Jana said. Then she took a permanent marker and scribbled 'esismylife' near Pyromaniac's burned-in message. "I'm starting a tradition. Goodbye to you now."

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – I have no idea if the 'es' in your name really stands for 'eternal sonata.' For all I know, it could stand for EdwardStroodle or Eating Sandwiches. I just took an educated guess.

**Onward and upward! Who knew that such a strange tradition could come from even the sleepiest of minds…?**


	4. Second Chance, Shinedown

**Nice. This chapter was very fun to write because of excessive violence. If you don't like violence, TOO BAD. This is some of the best violence I've ever written!**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 4: Second Chance, by Shinedown

SPECIAL THANKS TO TASCA

The Top Hat of Fate had been cleaned and refilled after the events of the last chapter. Rubberducky carefully stuck her hand into the sea of folded papers and withdrew one.

"DustyStroodle, if you would," Rubberducky handed her the paper.

"Don't mind if I do," she accepted it and unfolded it. "The winner is Tasca." She then glanced over at Crazywing. "What, no Jazz this time?"

Crazywing shook her hand sadly. "No. No Jazz."

"Go get the winner." Flyleaf ordered.

Crazywing was gone and back in a minute. "Introducing… TASCA!"

"Hm? Oh, yes, I won. Nice to meet you all. Call me Dove."

"Dove, then. You know how it works?"

Dove giggled a little bit and, at strange looks from the hostesses, said: "What you just said… it sounded kinda wrong."

"The CD?" Flyleaf said, then took it. "I'll deliver this to the deejay."

Dove turned and sat on Count Waltz's throne. "Frederic—"

Many strangled groans. An especially loud one from the poor composer.

Dove cleared her throat to get their attention. "Frederic, you will be singing—"

More groans. Dove grabbed her head and shook it vigorously. "SHUT UP ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP I THINK I'M GOING GRAY!!!!!!!"

It shut the fictional characters up nicely.

"Okay." Dove sighed. "Frederic, you will be singing a song called Second Chance by a band called Shinedown. Got it?"

"Second Chance, Shinedown," the composer repeated sadly.

"Onward! To the stage!" Dove said. When nothing happened for three or four seconds, [1] she screamed, "HURRY UP!!!!!"

Frederic was escorted onstage. When he got there, he had to shake his head and blink a few times to make sure he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing.

"Where… are we…?" he asked, completely confused.

"Wha—oh." DustyStroodle said casually. "We're on some highway in Florida."

"Why—"

"Because we got super under budget, okay? We ran out of money to keep renting Forte Castle, so we decided to send in our army to put it under siege for this chapter. Then we can save money on rent and spend it all on effects."

Frederic blinked again. "Okay then."

"MAY DAY, MAY DAY!!!" Came a voice from backstage. "PRISONER ESCAPED!" Dove came out chasing after Polka.

Polka was screaming and running as fast as her legs would carry her across the highway. As you and I both know, running randomly across a highway is very dangerous, especially in Florida where there are crocodiles. But remember, Polka is not from this time period and has absolutely no knowledge of looking both ways before crossing the street, so the very obvious happened.

Polka was hit by a speeding bus. [2]

Immediately, three things happened. First, Dove stopped running and fell to the floor laughing her head off. Second, Polka got up woozily and said "I'm okay" very loudly. Third, Flyleaf took the microphone to do the regular start-up routine.

"Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll Call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

As standard, Frederic's eyes were drawn to the table of judges. But here it wasn't a table. It was an overturned semi. But of course, our favorite composer couldn't know that it was a semi because, as stated before, he is from a different time period. The nameplates declared CHRIS CROCKER, JOHNNY DEPP, and MARIO LOPEZ.

_So _that's_ the Johnny Depp that DustyStroodle was talking about during Eternal Karaoke._ He looked critically at him. _Doesn't look _that _much like me._

"ACTION!"

The music came on quick.

_"My eyes are open wide, and by the way, I made it through the day. I watched the world outside, by the way, I'm leaving out today. I just saw Hayley's Comet, she waved, said WHY YOU ALWAYS RUNNING IN PLACE? Even the man in the moon disapppeeeeaaaarrrreeedddd… SOMEWHERE IN THE STRATOSPHERE!"_

The usual depression from singing set in. The usual 'why me?' thoughts crept through Frederic's mind. This time, the song didn't even make any sense. Then again, most of the songs didn't make sense, but usually he could find a way to apply it to his life. This one he just didn't know.

_"Tell my mother, tell my father, I've done the best I can to make them realize THIS IS MY LIFE. I hope they understand. I'm not angry, I'm just saying… sometimes goodbye is a second chance."_

Despite the fact that the song made absolutely no sense to him, (in a way he could apply to his life, that is) despite the fact that he was singing it, he did manage to enjoy the song somewhat. _**Just one question, **_he thought, slightly bitterly. _**When did this go from Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE to Eternal Karaoke: Frederic Chopin takes requests? **_[3]

_"Please don't cry one tear for me, I'm not afraid of what I have to say. This is my one and only voice so listen close, it's only for today. I just saw Hayley's Comet, she waved, said WHY YOU ALWAYS RUNNING IN PLACE? Even the man in the moon disappeeeeaaarrreeeddd… SOMEWHERE IN THE STRATOSPHERE!"_

Pause. The cars on the highway were stopping and taking photographs of him, wondering who this mystery karaoke-er was.

_"Tell my mother, tell my father, I've done the best I can to make them realize THIS IS MY LIFE, I hope they understand. I'm not angry, I'm just saying… Sometimes goodbye is a second chaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnccceee…_

_"Here is my chancceeeeeee…_

_"This is my CHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNCCCCEEEE!"_

He paused to take a breath. By then quite a large traffic jam had gathered and they were watching, highly entertained some were singing along.

_"Tell my mother, tell my father, I've done the best I can to make them realize THIS IS MY LIFE, I hope they understand. I'm not angry, I'm just saying… Sometimes goodbye is a second chance. Sometimes goodbye is a second chance. Sometimes goodbye is a second chance…"_

Thank God it was over. Flyleaf skipped on "stage" and grabbed the microphone. "Nice job, Deadfred. Now for the judges."

The guy called Chris Crocker started. "Well, I really liked it." He said in a surprisingly high and girlish voice. "I listen to that song on the radio all the time and—"

"That's lovely, Chris," Flyleaf cut in. "Johnny?"

"I did enjoy it as well." He took a second to study the composer. "Are you sure you're not Ichibod Crane?"

"Who?"

"I played him in a movie called the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He looks near exactly like you."

"What in the—The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?" [4]

"You know," Johnny Depp said. "Headless horseman? Rawr?"

Frederic looked blank. "I have no idea."

"Mario?" Flyleaf cut in.

"I hated it." Mario spat out angrily. "It was terrible! The execution, the actual singing… It looked highly disorganized and hideous."

The crowd, very conscious of the fact that the judges were celebrities and very offended that such an astounding performance was being taken for hate, started booing and throwing anything they could get their hands on at the Judges' table—er, overturned semi. It hurts me to tell you this, but Johnny Depp got a tomato in the face because of someone's lack of aim. The crowd is just lucky that DustyStroodle was not there to see it.

Suddenly, shouts of "Jealous!" and "Looooooser!" erupted from the crowd. Mario turned bright red and slammed his hands down on the semi. "Alright, alright!" He yelled out. "Maybe I am slightly jealous of his good looks and wonderful personality!" [5]

"Nice job, Freddy-o. Go backstage." Flyleaf said, waving to the crowd. "Me and Crazywing have to calm the crowd and make sure Johnny Depp isn't mad at us." Then she glanced back at the Judges' overturned semi. "In that case, all of them. We don't want them to not come back, do we?"

Frederic went backstage.

Immediately, screams erupted. At first, Frederic thought they might be cheering for him, but no. It was an alligator. It had somehow gotten into the backstage! "GET OFF OF ME YOU DAMN SERPENT!!!" Captain Dolce was yelling from her place in the line. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL CHOP YOUR HEAD OFF AND FUC—OWWWWWWWWWWCCCCCCHHHH!"

Blood started squirting everywhere. "MY HAND! YOU BIT OFF MY DAMN HAND I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!!!" She started kicking it and spitting in its face. "SOMEONE GET ME MY DAMN GUN I'LL BLOW IT'S HEAD OFF!!!"

Suddenly, the alligator lost interest. "Man, you're not half as fun as Captain Hook. I'm gonna find him and scare him out of his pantyhose." It said, and waddled off like a good alligator should.

Dove was cracking up in her seat. "That was GENIUS! Please tell me someone got that on tape!"

DustyStroodle shook her head. "I'm sorry, Dove, but your turn is over."

Dove looked at her. "Okay. That was more fun than I bargained for." She flopped out of the seat and pulled out a sharpie. She then signed prominently: TASCA (DOVE) ENJOYS BUSES AND ALLIGATORS.

"See you." DustyStroodle waved.

She gave a two-fingered salute. "Later."

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – I am sure, Tasca, you are much more patient than that, but just as I did with Crazywing's love of Jazz, I brought your impatience up considerably. Yes, Jazz is just Crazywing's favorite character. Who knew?

[2] – I was very happy when I heard about this, because personally, I hate Polka. I wanted to have her blood spatter all over the windshield, and then I remembered that she is an important character and that she could not die. Damn.

[3] – And I quote.

[4] – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, I believe, was written in the late 1800's by Washington Irving, but I wasn't sure about that. So it follows that Frederic would not have heard of it. And anyway, if I got the date wrong, it was written in English anyway. Frederic didn't know English. Who ever said I didn't do my research?

[5] – Again, I quote.

**Whew. That was a lot of footnotes. But then again, only three of them were really footnotes. Two of them were proclaiming I don't own—wait a minute. That means I own even less than before! Frick on a stick. I OWN NOTHING. ESPECIALLY IN THIS STORY.**


	5. Creep, Radiohead

**Here we go again. Sorry for the somewhat-long wait, I had to go on vacation for a week. AND NOW, FINALLY, THE FIRST REVIEWER GETS HER CHAPTER…**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 5: Creep, by Radiohead

SPECIAL THANKS TO APPLAUDISSEMENT SONIQUE

DustyStroodle didn't bother sticking her entire hand into the top hat. She just picked a square off the top. "Flyleaf?"

"Right-o." Flyleaf took the paper. "Applaudissement Sonique won."

The other three girls looked at Flyleaf as if she were crazy.

"What?"

"What is an Appluh-dissomant-sonike?" Rubberducky asked, rather ungracefully.

"Applaudissement Sonique." Flyleaf corrected. "It's this freakishly awesome move Frederic uses at the end of the game. With lots of BOOOM! and CRASH! and there's even this cool whirly-bird wingy thing that he gets." Then she paused. "You mean you guys never saw it?"

"I barely know Gallow. I'm a victim of circumstance." Rubberducky said.

"Never played the game, never will." DustyStroodle shrugged.

"I was too focused on Jazz during the final battle." Crazywing excused, "She only let me watch the ending because I threatened her." Then she stared off into space for a bout of daydreaming. [1]

"You mean I'm the only one who has ever played the game totally through with Gallow?" Flyleaf asked.

"I'm a victim of circumstance," Rubberducky repeated.

"I swore on the grave of Ichibod Crane that I would never play it." DustyStroodle said.

"She… handed me the controller and told me to figure it out…" Crazywing admitted.

"Okay… DustyStroodle? Would you like to get the winner?" Flyleaf asked, slightly perturbed that she was the only one who had seen the entire game.

"Okay."

She was gone and back. "I introduce Aplahdiseement Sonike." DustyStroodle said with a flourish.

"Applaudissement Sonique!" Applaudissement Sonique and Flyleaf corrected. "But call me Neon," the former added.

"Neon, much better." Rubberducky sighed. "You have everything?"

"Yup." Neon handed over the manila envelope and marched over to Waltz's throne. "First things first—HI FREDERIC!" she waved furiously.

"…hi?"

"Next call of order… oh yes. COUNT WALTZ," Neon began, clapping her hands together in a very menacing manner. "YOU WILL BE SINGING A SONG CALLED CREEP BY A BAND CALLED RADIOHEAD."

The Count turned up his nose. "And why would I listen to you?"

"Because I have a taser and you dug yourself into this hole and you have to get out of it."

"What's a taser?"

Neon demonstrated. Suddenly Waltz was extremely compliant.

On the other side of the curtain…

"We're back in Forte Castle." Waltz observed.

"Way to state the obvious," Flyleaf said. "Lights, Camera, Scribe, Music, Roll Call--"

"HERE!"

"Judges—"

Waltz glared at the three judges. He was in a glarey mood. Their nameplates read SIMON COWELL, RANDY JACKSON, and PAULA ABDUL. He blinked and read them again. The last names were familiar—ah, yes, from Forte Idol. The Judges were Contralto Cowell, Rhyme Jackson, and Opera Abdul. That would make some sense.

"ACTION!"

_**Here we damn go.**_ Waltz thought.

_"WHen yOu were here befoOoOre, couLDn't loOk you in the eYYe. You're jUst like an AAanGel, your skIn makes me crYYYy. You float like a featheRRr, in a beauTIful worlDDd. I wish I was speSHul, you're so very speSHul…"_ [2]

Contralto—er, Simon—grimaced and nearly called the whole thing to a halt right there. Waltz glared venom at the judge.

_"But I'm a creEEep, I'm a weirdoOoo, what the HEll am I doIng herRRe, I don't belONg here…?"_

Wait, back up just a second… did he just sing that? Did he seriously just sing that? Did he admit—er, accidentally say—that he was a creep and a weirdo?

Simon clasped his hands over his ears. Randy and Paula discreetly stuck iPod earbuds in their ears.

_"I don't caAAre if it hUuRRts, I wAAnt to HaVE contROL, I WAnT a pERFect bodEEEYYY, I wAAAAAnt a perFEct SAAWWLL—"_

The audience joined in in the hate. They started throwing moldy tomatoes and waving tasers in the air. Waltz got splattered in the face with one.

_"I WaaannTT yoU to notiCEEEEE, when I'm nOT AroWWND, yoU'RE sO very SPEshUL, I wISh I wAS SPEshUL… But I'm a CREeeeeP, I'm a WeirDDO, what ThE hELl am I DOing heRE? I don'T belONg HERe."_

Waltz grimaced. He hated that line.

_"OOOoOOoooOHhhhHhhhH…"_

Simon could take it no longer. "Stop—dear God—please!" he cut in. The audience cheered in approval.

"Lookie here!" Flyleaf skipped onto stage. "Our first contestant that sucked so badly we had to stop! What do our judges think? Paula?"

"Well… it was… below average…" she said. The crowd booed. "Okay. I hated it and I hoped that I would just die to escape your voice."

"Randy?"

"Yo, man, seriously, dawg, you really just needed to at least TRY. I mean, your voice squeaked so bad I wanted to oil it."

"Simon?"

"You have no right to be in a video game that relates to music, much less be the main antagonist. If I had a gun I would have shot you, and then shot myself."

"Wonderful!" Flyleaf said. "Now Count Waltz—"

"_NOOOO_!" Waltz screamed, stamping his foot. "I _WON'T_ have any of this! You _INSULTED_ the _COUNT OF FORTE_, and for _THAT_, you are going to have to _PAY_!" the count took out his odd-shaped sword and started stalking towards the judges' table. [3]

Crazywing (who had been working the notecards) reacted quickly and spoke into a walky-talky. "Code Red," she said, "Send in Security."

A tinny voice replied, "Gold or Silver?"

"Gold." Crazywing said. "In the orange costumes."

But it turns out security need not be involved. The crowd surged forward to protect the judges' table, bearing weapons of their own. All in all, imagine a Boston Massacre scene with many more Patriots and just one Readcoat. (Or, even better, imagine that scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail that had that dude and the witch trials and stuff. That's what I was thinking of.)

The crowd seized the tyrant count and all marched up the stairs and backstage. First they chained Waltz back into line, and then the fangirls surrounded their heart-throbs.

By the end of it, Beat, Jazz, Fugue, Frederic, and Allegretto were looking quite dazed and covered in lipstick marks.

But the crowd did eventually recede and order was somewhat restored.

"That. Was. WICKED!" Neon screamed, clapping her hands together. "Does anyone have a sharpie?"

"Here ya go," DustyStroodle said, handing her the referred writing utensil.

Neon signed her full name quickly and then rushed over and gave Frederic a huge hug with lots of squeezing and cracking sounds and spluttering. Then, as a note, she added "_I hugged Frederic!" _and underlined it several times.

"Thanks, all. No doubt I'll be back."

"No problem."

From somewhere in the background, a small voice wheezed: "I think my rib is broken."

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – Two parts to this footnote.

A – Sorry about the name thingy. I couldn't help myself.

B – These excuses are real excuses that are extremely valid. I discovered the game and kindly passed it to my friends, and the only one that has seen it in its entirety is Flyleaf. Crazywing has seen bits and pieces. DustyStroodle swore she wouldn't play it. I barely know Rubberducky, but she's a good kid and I needed another host.

[2] – I realize that the way its written it's kind of hard to read, but figure it out. It's used to symbolize how crappy he's singing it. If anything, just re-google the lyrics. BTW, I'm trying to keep this T rated, so I used the 'clean' version of this song.

[3] – Huh. I could swear I told those girls to remove all the character's weapons. Geez. Also, don't even think of telling me that his sword is not odd shaped, because where I come from, that kind of sword looks like it's made of cheap plastic to be a child's plaything. The purple-ness and the cheap bump in the middle kind of gives it away.

**Okay. This one was kind of short, mostly because the song was cut off in the middle and I'm totally brain-dead. I hope you enjoyed it anyway, and keep the songs coming, or I'll be forced to use the 4 or 5 other songs Neon kindly provided. (Not that that's a bad thing, but everybody needs a turn.)**


	6. Drain You, Nirvana

**YAY! MORE VIOLENCE! Rock on, Gray. I actually think this is one of the weaker ones for some reason... all my fault. The song was great.**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 6: Drain You, by Nirvana

SPECIAL THANKS TO GRAYJACK72

Flyleaf shook the contents of the Top Hat of Fate around for a bit and then plucked out a square of paper. "Crazywing?"

"Sure." She popped it into her mouth and chewed it for a bit. "Paper's kinda tough. Why don't we just order pizza?"

Rubberducky slapped her forehead. "Idiot." She muttered. "Gimme a new one." Her wish was granted. "The winner is… Grayjack72?!"

"Hey! Gray's comin' back?" Crazywing swallowed the poor, unfortunate not-winner's name and took another square from the collection.

"I'll go get him," DustyStroodle offered. She returned with the familiar face. "Gray."

"What's going on?" He said, brandishing a manila envelope.

"Not much. You know, the usual. Torturing fictional characters, listening to music that we don't know laughing as various stupid acts are played out." Flyleaf answered casually.

"Either way, you know what to do. Oh, and you can sign the floor twice." DustyStroodle said, taking out a sharpie and pointing to the graffiti'd floor.

"Cool." Gray said. Then he handed over the manila envelope and settled in on Waltz's throne. "Claves—"

"Wha? _ME_?"

"—Well, kind of no duh." Gray said, slightly irritated. [1] "Anyway, the song you will be singing is something called Drain You by Nirvana."

"No way!" Claves gasped. "I thought I was off limits!"

"No one's off limits in Encore, Claves." Gray answered coolly, with only an eyebrow quirk to show his vexation.

"He's right, you know." DustyStroodle added. "I believe Gallow added something about 'obscure characters' in the final A/N or something."

"Exactly." Gray finished, leaning back. "Run along now."

Crazywing unlocked Claves and led her onstage. "Here goes nothing," Crazywing muttered. "By the way, Jazz is mine."

"What? I had him first!"

"Yeah, but you died."

"…"

Crazywing stuck out her tongue. "Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll Call—"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

Just a glance was all Claves needed. She saw maroon hair tied up with black roses (Rondo), a black ponytail (Jazz), and a boyish grayish-brownish do (Falsetto). It was enough to make her go pale and then bright red.

"ACTION!"

There wasn't much of a start, just her singing. Rubberducky was pointing to the words before she knew what was happening.

_"One baby to another said I'm lucky to've met you. I don't care what you think unless it is about me. It is now my duty to completely drain you. A travel through a tube and end up in your infection."_

Claves almost grimaced. This song wasn't about dark forbidden love or pretty butterflies or anything like that. Nothing that she usually listened to. She sighed. She was going to try no matter what kind of crap this song was.

_"Chew your meat for you. Pass it back and forth in a passionate kiss. From my mouth to yours because I like you..."_

She shook her head. She just got an abrupt picture of Jazz and Falsetto making out with meat. Raw meat. Nope, nothing like pretty butterflies. [2]

_"With eyes so dilated I've become your pupil. You taught me everything without a poison apple. The water is so yellow, I'm a healthy student. Indebted and so grateful, vacuum out the fluids."_

She blinked. Twice. Three times. _Yellow water? Vacuuming fluids? _She felt her stomach churn. Yep, she was just about to lose her lunch…

_"Chew your meat for you. Pass it back and forth in a passionate kiss. From my mouth to yours because I like you…"_

She took a few deep breaths as the song went to the instrumentals. _**No more raw meat. No more yellow water. Think… Jazz. Think… Unicorns. Think… love and roses—NOT BLACK ROSES—and plenty of rainbows and pretty colors…**_

She was jerked back into reality when the card was switched. It said: Scream**.**

No way was she going to scream.

Crazywing must have been expecting a reaction like this. Scream, goddammit. 

Another card ordered.

She shook her head quickly.

SCREAM. PLEASE.Crazywing glared venom at the pink-haired fencer.

_**Fine. Have it your way.**_ She thought and took a deep breath.

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH_!

"_One baby to another said I'm lucky to've met you. I don't care what you think unless it is about me. It is now my duty to completely drain you. A travel through a tube and end up in your infection."_

Her scream was very effective. Everyone in the entire audience seemed dazed. Even Crazywing. Such lung power from a pink-haired little dead girl… … …?

_"Chew your meat for you. Pass it back and forth in a passionate kiss. From my mouth to yours. Sloppy lips to lips. You're my vitamins because I'm like you…"_

It was over.

Crazywing dragged flat-footed up onto the stage. "Judges?" is what she really said, but it sounded something more like "Juhhmmjesssmm?"

Rondo started. "That was excellent." She began, smirking. "Oh, and I've been thinking of starting a Screamo band. Want to join?" She was strangely immune to the loudness and high-pitched-ness of Claves's screech. Probably because the only genre she listened to was, in fact, screamo.

"Do I get to sing?"

"Yes."

"Sure."

"Jazz?" Crazywing said. "I love you."

Jazz ignored the last part. "Wow, Claves." he grinned. "That was amazing."

"Th—thanks." Claves said, disbelievingly.

"Anyway, you sang it like you've heard the song before." he continued. "Have you?"

"No," She said quickly. She almost added that her favorite song was about butterflies and rainbows and rainbows that looked like butterflies, but she managed to keep her mouth shut.

"Falsetto?"

The blue-clad fist fighter glanced over at Jazz. "Yeah. It was really good." She admitted, shaking her head. "I thought the scream was admirable, and I hope your screamo career with _the person who killed you_ works out." She stressed the italics.

Claves seemed to reconsider. "Rondo, I quit."

Rondo shrugged. "Salsa already agreed to be the singer anyway." [3]

"Thank you, judges. Head backstage, Claves."

Backstage…

"Goddamit! Leave me alone you fricken perverted Very Very Empty whatever!"

When Claves first entered the backstage area, she thought that someone had gotten into an unlimited supply of balloons. But when she focused on the round things that seemed to cover up every inch of the backstage area (including the people) they turned on her and swarmed.

She quickly took out her rapier and swung it around, killing a few of them. But one or two wouldn't be enough, there were hundreds!

Gray was the one who had shouted. He marched up to the line of prisoners and grabbed Beat's musket.

"Bullet," he ordered grimly. Beat did as he was told. Gray loaded the gun, then pointed at Dolce. "Where's your gun?"

The previously one-handed—now no-handed—captain pointed her hook at the opposing wall. She didn't dare defy the one with the power to send her to do karaoke. "Over there, Mistah Gray, sir." She whimpered.

"Right," he grunted and took the gun from its place (leaning against the wall.) Then he casually lifted both muskets and took aim.

_**FWHOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!**_

A giant explosion of fire and lead erupted from both barrels of the guns. It instantly incinerated every one of the weak little Very Very Empties, and even left Claves slightly singed and covered in ash.

Everyone stared in silence as Gray returned both guns to their owners, signed his name twice on the floor, cracked his knuckles, and left without a word.

"Okkaaayyy then." Rubberducky was the first to regain her voice. "Who's next?"

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – Now that you've told me you can get angry, every single time I write a chapter you are going to get angry. This is going to be fuuunn… Anger is fun.

[2] – I don't know about you, but Claves just seems like the pretty-butterfly-unicorn-rainbow type on the inside. She'd never show it, especially not that she's in Andantino…

[3] – Whereas Rondo, on the other hand, seems like the death-metal-screamo-emo-hardcore type. I wonder what her band is going to be called…? And how did Salsa get conned into singing? (Probably something about hats and treasure…)

**Another day, another act of mindless entertaining violence. That song got stuck in my head… Now I'll be humming it, which will cause others around me to hum it, which will cause others to hum it, which will eventually cause the entire world to start humming Nirvana songs. Wondeful.**


	7. Defying Gravity, Wicked

**This one was fuuunn… I enjoyed writing this one because I totally love this song even though I've never seen Wicked ;-_-… I've only heard bad renditions of it from the chorus girls at my school, but the song still shone through. ENJOY!!!**

**BTW with the incorrect lyrics... I BLAME THE LYRICS WEBSITE I DIDN'T DO IT! I'LL FIX IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE WHICH MEANS NOT RIGHT NOW.**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 7: Defying Gravity, from the musical Wicked

SPECIAL THANKS TO WICKEDSONG

"Crazywing, I'm gonna give you one more chance," Flyleaf warned. "Pick a square. _Don't eat it_." [1]

Crazywing pouted. "Fine. I'm still hungry, though." She carefully chose a square and unfolded it. "The winner is… someone called WickedSong."

"WickedSong…" Rubberducky mused. "I'll get her." As is the norm, she returned in a matter of moments. "May I introduce WickedSong?"

"Hi." WickedSong said. "Do you like Venison Steaks?"

"I like venison hot dogs!" DustyStroodle said. "They taste so good!"

"Cool." She said. "Here's the CD."

Crazywing took it. "By any chance… is your name maybe from that one musical?"

WickedSong's eyes lit up. "Why, yes, it is!" [2]

Flyleaf started beaming. "Really? I love that show!" she hummed a bit from 'Popular.' "That's my personal favorite."

"Awesome." WickedSong beamed right back. Then she turned around and sat on Waltz's throne. "Claves and Falsetto—"

Claves groaned. Falsetto perked her ears a bit.

"—You'll be singing a song from my namesake, Wicked. It's called 'Defying Gravity.' Claves, you'll be Galinda, and Falsetto, you're Elphaba."

"We're actually playing roles?" Claves moaned.

"Yeah. I'm really excited so _don't screw up_." Venom crept into her voice at the last part. The rivals immediately practiced scales in their heads. Man, she could be intimidating.

They were escorted to the opposite side of the curtain. Rubberducky gave them both microphones. "Ready, ladies?"

"As we'll ever be." Falsetto answered. Claves stuck out her tongue.

"Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll Call—"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

Sitting in chairs at the Judges' table was a familiar face (to Waltz, not really to anyone else, though) and two others. The familiar one was Simon Cowell, the two others were Idina Menzel and Kirstin Chenoweth.

"ACTION!"

Falsetto started off. "_Something has changed within me. Something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game. Too late for second guessing. Too late to go back to sleep. It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes… and leap!"_

Falsetto glanced over at Claves. She had her arms crossed and was glaring at her. She felt the hate… and she liked it.

"_It's time to try defying gravity. I think I'll try defying gravity and you can't pull me down!"_

_"Can't I make you understand? You're having delusions of grandeur!"_ Claves chanted into the microphone. She definitely enjoyed her line.

But Falsetto cut in before she could finish. _"I'm through accepting limits 'cause someone says they're so." _She specifically directed the line at her rival. _"Some things I cannot change but till I try I'll never know! Too long I've been afraid of losing love, I guess I've lost. Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost!"_

Falsetto grinned and listened to the music flow around her.

_"I'd sooner buy defying gravity. Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity, and you can't pull me down! _Galinda, come with me. Think of what we could do—together."

Now hold on just a second. Falsetto looked at the lines again. She had thought this was a I'm-gonna-rub-it-in-your-face kind of song. But now her character is going to try to parley with the other to be—she shuddered at the thought—friends?

_"Unlimited," _She sang through clenched teeth. No way was she going to be friends with that traitor! "_Together we're… unlimited… Together we'll be the greatest team there's ever been, Galinda… Dreams, the way we planned them."_

_"If we work in tandem…"_ Claves smirked at her rival's hesitant lines. Like there was any way she would ever work as a team with Falsetto!

_"There's no fight we cannot win," _They sang in harmony. Now it was a battle. A battle of egos. _"Just you and I defying gravity! With you and I defying gravity!"_

_"They'll never bring us down!" _Falsetto sneered. "Well, are you coming?"

_"I hope you're happy. Now that you're choosing this." _Claves said sarcastically, using none of the simple innocence the original singer had.

"You too." _**Yeah, right.**_

_"I hope it brings you—heh—bliss." _Claves still had an evil grin on her face. She couldn't keep the extra 'heh' from escaping her. But she thought it still sounded pretty good.

_"I really hope you get it. And you don't live to regret it!" _The two faced each other and glared, bending their knees, almost getting into their battle positions. _"I hope you're happy in the end! I hope you're happy my… friend?"_

Each was tentative to say the last word. Falsetto made up for it with an extra loud next line. _"So if you care to find me, look to the western sky! As someone told me lately… everyone deserves a chance to fly…"_

Claves brandished her microphone like her rapier.

_"And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free! To those who'd ground me, take a message back from me! Tell them how I am defying gravity! I'm flying high defying gravity! And soon I'll match them in renown…"_

The music slowed, and Falsetto got out of her battle stance. _"And nobody in all of Oz… no wizard that there is or was is ever gonna bring me DOOOOOWWWWWWNNNNNNN!"_

_"I hope you're happy!" _Claves supplied as Falsetto carried out the last note.

_"Look at her! She's wicked! Get her!" _The crowd joined in on the fun. Even the judges helped.

_"Bring me down!" _Falsetto repeated.

_"No one mourns the wicked!" _The crowd continued. _"So we've got to bring her…"_

_"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" _Falsetto sang.

_"Dooooooowwwwwwnnnnnn!" _Everyone finished, including Claves, and Falsetto even thought she heard a few muffled voices from behind the curtain.

The music finished with a bang. The crowd erupted into cheers.

Claves and Falsetto looked at each other. A silent, temporary truce was forged. They joined hands and bowed.

"Wow! That was great, guys!" Rubberducky came up onstage and stood between the rivals. "Let's see what our judges have to say. Simon?"

"I'll admit it, it was wonderful." Simon said. "The hate was so realistic! The friendship, on the other hand… you guys would really have to work on that."

"Idina?"

The actress clapped her hands together. "I loved it, guys. It was a really good reproduction of the real thing. The thing is, I agree with Simon. The hate was so real and strong, but the friendship was forced and weak."

"Kirstin?"

Kirstin grinned and took up the microphone. "First off… that was amazing. You two are the real Galinda and Elphaba. You guys've got four and a half stars! Oh, and nice job, audience!"

More cheers from the aforementioned.

"Backstage we go!" Rubberducky said.

On Waltz's throne, WickedSong looked like she was having the time of her life. "It's just as I imagined it!" she said dreamily. "It's all perfect!"

DustyStroodle handed WickedSong the sharpie. She signed her name with a flourish and wrote _"I'm defying gravity!" _as a little note.

Suddenly and rather randomly, Falsetto and Claves's truce was broken. "Hey Jazz, can you tell this loser how awesomely I sang?" The former said, throwing a dirty look over her shoulder.

"Uh…" Jazz said.

"Aw, just shut up, would you, Claves!" Falsetto rolled her eyes. "It's obvious that you sucked and I rocked. Tell her, Jazz!"

"Uh…"

"Tell her you love me more!"

"No way! He loves me more!"

"Shut up, idiot!"

"Who are you calling an idiot, idiot?"

"I know you are but what am I?"

"OHHH, COME ON!" Crazywing cut in. "Both of you, shut your overlarge pie holes! Don't you get it? Neither of you got Jazz! I did… in the real world! In the damn game, Viola ended up with Jazz—DON'T YOU GET IT???" [3]

The whole backstage area went silent.

"Well, then… bye…" WickedSong blinked, slightly perturbed at how random and unnecessary that fight had been.

"See you," DustyStroodle waved as she took back the sharpie, shook it near her ear, shook her head, and threw it into a nearby garbage can.

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – They should have just ordered the pizza… Speaking of, I want pizza. That was kind of random.

[2] – Again, I'm only pretty sure that your namesake is from Wicked. For all I know… for all I know… okay, I'm just gonna shut up now.

[3] – Okay, hold on a second. Did Crazywing just admit that she didn't completely get Jazz? Did she forget her medication or something?

**This chapter makes me sad. It reminds me that I'll never, ever see Wicked 'cause it already left my city. Oh well. Put on a happy face. Smile and wave. **


	8. Become Successful, Reel Big Fish

**Uggnh… sorry it took so long… the week before the concert was terrible… I couldn't bear to listen to anything other than Coldplay… anyway, here it is…**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 8: We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful, Reel Big Fish

SPECIAL THANKS TO MEI FIRE

"And the winner is…" Rubberducky stuck her arm into the Top Hat of Fate. "Drumroll please…" she glanced over at Beat in the corner, who had been assigned to the roll of "drumroll boy." He began tapping halfheartedly on the drum. "AND THE WINNER IS… Mei Fire!"

Banners, ribbons, balloons, confetti, etc. etc.

Flyleaf glanced up. "What happened there? Where did the balloons and confetti and stuff come from?"

"Meee!" came Crazywing's voice from somewhere in the rafters. She floated down lightly, holding a blue umbrella, giving a kind of Mary Poppins effect. "Thanks for the parasol, Polka!"

DustyStroodle shrugged, perplexed, but used to all the random happenings in Forte. "I'll get her… … … … May I introduce Mei Fire?"

"Nice to meetcha," she said. "Call me Fuego."

"Fuego… catchy." Rubberducky said. "I'm sure you know what to do."

"You betcha." She went to sit on the throne, and seemed to consider for a moment. She stared hard at Frederic. "I think I'll choose Fred—"

The groans started. The composer hung his head and muttered something incoherent about 'enjoying his short break.'

"PSYCH HA HA HA HA I GOT YOU ALL I DON'T WANT TO CHOOSE FREDERIC, IT'S OBVIOUS HE HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY ABUSED IN THIS CONTEST THINGY!!!" [1] Fuego screamed, pointed to the crowd of fictional characters at her feet, and erupted in a slightly hysterical fit of giggling. Frederic brightened marginally. "The real winners are the Underdogs!"

"Please be more specific," the scribe with the laptop in the corner commanded in a dull, nasally tone.

"Okey," Fuego said, dancing a bit. "I choose the Underdogs, Polka, Beat, and Viola! The song you will be singing is WE HATE IT WHEN OUR FRIENDS BECOME SUCCESSFUL BY REEL BIG FISH!!!"

Then Fuego jumped off the chair and started skipping onstage.

"Hold on…" Crazywing said. "Where're you goin'?"

"I'm playing the axe." Fuego replied in a tough-sounding voice, then resumed her skipping onstage.

"O__o" said DustyStroodle.

"I agree." Agreed Rubberducky.

Crazywing escorted all three characters to the curtain. Before they exited, she leaned over to give them a pre-song pep talk. "Okay, Beat, remember to play that drum like you mean it!"

Beat tapped the drum halfheartedly once again.

"Viola, remember, you take care of goats for a living! And Jazz is mine!"

"Kinda hard to forget, Crazy-wingy girl." Viola said simply.

"And Polka, Gallow—"

"Hates me, I know." Polka finished.

"I guess you got it. See you when you're done."

On the other side of the curtain, Fuego was standing at the very edge of the stage near the crowd, pumping her fists in the air and making funny faces. They even did the wave when she made the signal. The crowd was screaming and taking digital pictures.

Flyleaf came up to the characters and handed all three of them microphones. "Good luck!" She said. "Enjoy. Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music!"

Fuego pumped the guitar in the air. The crowd screamed louder.

"Roll call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

The judges' table consisted of three people. (of course.) The first one had a nameplate that read RICK ASTLEY, the second's said ELVIS PRESLEY, and the third had no specified name, just FUEGO'S MOTHER.

Fuego's mom looked utterly weirded out.

"ACTION!!!!!"

Fuego started playing. Invisible horns joined in.

_"Wa ha!!!_

_"We hate it when our friends become successful! We hate it when our friends become successful!"_ They all sang (feebly) together.

Fuego was enjoying herself. The characters, as per norm, were not.

_"Oh look at those clothes, ah, look at that face, it's so cold. It's such a video, well, it's really laughable…"_

The crowd joined in. _"Ah ha ha ha ha, ah ha ha ha ha, ah ha ha ha ha ha! Oh ho ho ho! Ah ha ha ha! Ah ha ha ha!"_

Viola was shifting her weight from foot to foot, bored, nervous, and flushing red as a cherry, (or strawberry, or raspberry, or apple—got it?) and singing softly. She did kind of hate it when her friends became successful…

Beat was probably doing the most singing. Sure, he didn't enjoy it, but he guessed that if he sang when the time came, he would be rewarded in the afterlife (Or something like that.) He also tapped on the drum at seemingly random intervals, trying to keep his namesake.

Polka is last because I hate her (as you all are painfully aware.) She was singing moderately soft, or _mezzo piano_ if you want to get technical. If it were possible, she was flushing redder than Viola.

_"We hate it when our friends become successful! And if they're No Doubt that makes it even worse and we can destroy them. You bet your life we will destroy them. And if we can hurt them, well, we may as well… It's really laughable._

_"Ah ha ha ha ha, ah ha ha ha ha, ah ha ha ha ha ha! Oh ho ho ho! Ah ha ha ha! Ah ha ha ha!" _

The thoughts of all three (more or less) : _**WHY WOULD I WANT TO DESTROY THEM??? **_

_"You see, it should've been me. Could've been me. Everybody knows. Everybody says so… They say:_

_" 'Ah, you have loads of songs, so many songs, more songs than they could stand. Verse. Chorus. Then they break away, just listen._

_"La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la! _[2] _Just listen!"_

Polka had fallen slightly behind with all of the la's as the horn solo started. Viola had perked up slightly at the thought of destroying Falsetto and Claves. Beat took it as his cue to tap along on the drum.

_"It's really laughable, Ah ha ha ha ha, ah ha ha ha ha, ah ha ha ha ha ha! Oh ho ho ho! Ah ha ha ha! Ah ha ha!"_

And with a final flourish, the song was over. Flyleaf came up to ask the Judges their opinions, but Fuego took the microphone and did it for her. "Judges? Rick?"

Rick Astley nodded and gave a thumbs up. "Pretty good for fictional characters, if you know what I mean…"

"ELVIS?"

"Terrific performance, thankya, thankyouverymuch."

"Mom?"

Fuego's mom looked around a little disgustedly and said, "The singing was okay, dear. Are these the characters from that one weird game that I see you playing all the time?"

"Mo-ther!"

"I take that as a yes. Are we going home soon?"

"MO-THER!"

Flyleaf grabbed the microphone from Fuego and said, "Thanks, judges. Fuego's mother, we'll be out soon. Enjoy your time with the celebrities."

Upon entering backstage, Fuego started rather randomly smashing her guitar against the ground, to the stunned surprise of the many characters. Then, when the instrument was sufficiently destroyed, she looked up, and claimed: "I BLAME IT ALL UPON A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD!!!" [3]

"Uh…" DustyStroodle said, holding out the sharpie.

Fuego's eyes lit up and she grabbed it, scribbled MEI FIRE on the floor, then added _"One tire gets the oil and polish, the other gets thrown in a radioactive dumpster to be eaten by mutated hamsters. Get it?"_

Crazywing read it, and replied "Um… sure?"

"OH YA!" Fuego said, pumping her fist in the air. "I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO UNDERSTANDS!!!"

"Okay, Fuego, your turn's over…" Rubberducky said, taking the sharpie.

"Okay!" She said, grinning from ear to ear. "Don't forget that eggplants are evil! LOVE YOU ALL!" Then she ran out, forcibly giving high-fives to every character.

The four hosts blinked as their eighth guest exited the area.

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – Quotey quote quote!

[2] – The scribe wants it to be made clear that that is not the exact amount of la's. She has tried to count. She has failed to count.

[3] – I apologize for the Coldplay quote. The concert has pretty much destroyed my comprehension of anything not-Coldplay related. DISCLAIMER: Song is "A Rush of Blood to the Head" on the album of the same name.

**Whew… Gallow scrolls through her meager collection of music to the 5 Coldplay albums she actually has sorry… again… they gave me their new CD for free… called LeftRightLeftRightLeft… can't… fight… the… music… … …**


	9. Wasting Time, Red

**YAAAY! Born to please, yup, that's me... This one is literally hot off the press, just finished like, two minutes ago. Hope you enjoy. The aftereffects of the concert have now worn off, so I am back to my former glory (if it could even be called that.) Anyway, here goes NOTHIN'! Oh and please do not inquire about the setting. I was bored. And stuff.**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 9: Wasting Time, by Red

SPECIAL THANKS TO EVBTHEWEREDOGAN

The backstage area in Forte Castle was more of a circus than usual. And I mean, a _lot_ more of a circus. And that's not an analogy.

Rubberducky was dressed up as a clown.

Crazywing was in the Freak Show.

Flyleaf tamed a lion.

And DustyStroodle was the ringmaster. She jerked the Top Hat of Fate off of her head and stuck her arm into it, muttering something akin to "Let's get this over with…" She shuffled around a little bit, and then pulled out the scrap of paper. "And the winner is… EvbTheWeredogan."

"Ooh ooh ooh!" Crazywing said. "Can I get her! Please? Please? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseple—"

DustyStroodle facepalmed and said. "Yeahsurewhatever."

"WHOOPEE!" She screamed and soared into the air. Once again, literally soared, because of the silver wings attached to her back that allowed her to be in the freak show. It took only a little genetic engineering and a few feathery first attempts. It's a long story. Maybe some other time.

EvbTheWeredogan was delivered by air. "Thanks Crazywing," she said as she dropped softly to the ground. "Hi. Call me Evb."

"Hey," Flyleaf said, riding on the back of her lion. "CD, please… oh yeah… what's a weredogan?"

Evb sighed, as if she had been asked that question many times before. [1] "It's like a cross between a dog and a dragon. With werewolf-like abilities. Anyway." She handed Flyleaf the CD and then went to the throne. "Hi. Hi Frederic. Hi Fugue. Hi… everyone else…"

"Hi…" said everyone else.

"So. Fugue, you're gonna be singing a song called Wasting Time by Red. I hope you like it!" She said, clapping her hands together.

The monocled arch-nemesis (who I personally love, as does Evb) was escorted to the curtain by Rubberducky in her clown costume.

"ONWARD, TO VICTORY!" Shouted the aforementioned as she handed Fugue the microphone. "Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll Call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

Fugue fought the force that drew his eyes to the Judges' table. But in the end, the force won. Rondo was sitting in the first chair, looking thoroughly superior. Tuba was next, tapping his sausage-sized fingers on the table and sitting in a much too small chair. Finally, the blonde head of Waltz was in the last chair, looking very bored and very, very smug. Fugue rolled his eyes. Wonderful. Of course—

"ACTION!!!"

He glanced at the notecard_. Of course_ the first instruction he gets is to: **"Scream in a very dramatic and pained way while the guitar slowly rolls in."**

He didn't know why, but he did. And the guitar did slowly roll in. Somewhat. Then he got a few seconds as his scream faded out before the actual singing began.

_"You found me here, waiting for your chance. You would reach inside and take all of me. You watch your lies smother me again but now you CAAAAANNNN'TTTT!"_

He glared venomously at Waltz. It was like… legal rebellion. He liked the sound of that idea. Legal… rebellion. He rolled that thought around in his head for a while.

_"Don't even try, you're wasting time. Jump back I'll beat you down and turn around, I'm fighting my way through you. Push you away, I'll never break. Come back, I'll beat you down, it's over now… I'm turning my back on you!"_

Sweet, sweet victory. Fugue let a crooked smile touch his lips.

_"I turn around, there you are. A blink and a flash, back to you again. You pushed me down, tried to steal it all… This time I'm pushing back!!!"_

He whipped the microphone around like his katana. For some reason, (a) he was enjoying the karaoke, but (b) he wanted to fight someone or something… maybe one of the judges… or even finish off what he started with the blonde girl and the blue-haired dude with the top hat…

_"Don't even try, you're wasting time. Jump back I'll beat you down, turn around, I'm fighting my way through you. Push you away, I'll never break. Come back, I'll beat you down, It's over now, I'm turning my back on you! Ooooooohhhh, on you!"_

Again, the microphone went around like his sword. Where there was a faint smile before now there was a psychotic grin.

_"Go ahead, try to stop me."_

He whispered the line dangerously into the microphone.

_"Go ahead, try to stop me."_

There was a little anger seeping into his voice. He enjoyed it when he was angry and he wanted to kill someone and he was happy at the same time. It usually lead to… interesting results.

_"Go ahead, try to stop me."_

Full blown rage bled into the final words.

_"Go ahead and TRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! GO AHEAD AND TRY!!!!!!!!!"_

The scream of absolute wrath was real. His face was red, his eyes were bloodshot, and his monocle was slightly crooked by the time he was done.

_"OOOHHHH! Don't even try, you're wasting time. Jump back I'll beat you down and turn around, I'm fighting my way through YOOOOUUUU! Push you away, I'll never break. Come back, I'll beat you down, it's over now… I'm turning my back on YOOOOUUUUUU!!!!"_

The end of the song left him breathing hard.

"Thank you, Fuguey!" Rubberducky said, skipping onstage and taking the microphone. "Judges?"

Rondo started. "Nice one, _Fuguey_. I'm gonna fire Salsa… maybe you would want to be the singer in my band?" [2]

Fugue shook his head. Anger was bubbling inside of him, and it took all he had to fight it down.

"Tuba?"

"Dude, you're the only person who actually treats me like a human being, and I have to agree with Rondo." Tuba said. "Plus you could make millions on a screamo career and you could definitely—" he lowered his voice and put his hand to the side of his mouth, hopefully shielding the final words from the count. "_blow this dump."_

"I heard that!" Waltz said, slamming his hands on the table. "Fugue, you really shouldn't do that." Then he leaned back and started examining his gloved hands. "By the way, that sucked."

"_**WHAT?**_"

Waltz glanced up, unalarmed at Fugue's very, very, very, very dangerous tone. "I said it sucked. Blowed. Terrible. Below average. Appalling. Horrendous. Bad. Any other way I need to phrase it?"

Fugue could take it no more. He pulled out his katana and charged at the count.

The smart thing for the count to do would have been to pull out his own sword and face the attack head-on. But since the count isn't exactly… well, Einstein, he got a little freaked out and jumped out of his seat and fled. But, he didn't get away. Offscreen, Fugue did very painful things to his superior that we won't mention for the sake of the little people.

Backstage…

"Oops…" came Evb's voice.

When Fugue entered the backstage (after sufficiently destroying Waltz's ego… at least for the time being) he jumped, blinked, cleaned off his monocle, and looked again.

Yup, still there.

Where that freakish top-hatted man should have been, it looked like a blue greyhound with wings and horns had taken his place.

Evb was sitting on the throne, looking down at a book in her lap. "Huh. That's weird. The Everlasting Love Charm isn't supposed to work like that…"

Wait. Back up about three seconds.

Charm?

This girl could use magic? [3]

Instant chaos engulfed the backstage. Evb continued sitting there, re-reading the passage about the Everlasting Love Charm, while the four hostesses had to somehow restore order.

Several minutes later, Evb made an "aaaahhh!" –ing sound. "I forgot that I needed a pollickywabble sniggerwarget to make this work. Otherwise it's the Over-The-Course-Of-The-Next-Chapter Weredogan spell!"

"Thank you… for submitting… your idea…" Flyleaf puffed. It had taken much running around to restore order. "Please… come back… another day…"

DustyStroodle handed her the sharpie. Evb shut the book with a snap, took the writing instrument, and signed her name on the floor. Then she drew a doodle of a weredogan with a top hat and handed the marker back.

"THANK YOU!" she said, then Crazywing came down like an angel from the heavens and took her back to the crowd.

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – I'm not sure if you've been asked what a weredogan is many times before, but if you hadn't told me, I wouldn't know, so… yeah. And stuff.

[2] – There's the band again. Also, I figure that Red isn't a screamo band, but I just couldn't help myself. I mean Rondo… screamo… Rondo… screamo…

[3] – I couldn't think of another way for you to change our dearest Frederic into a weredogan other than magic so I hope you don't die soon. Thanks muchly.

**Whoop de doo! Another chapter down the drain! Well, not really. I liked that one… death, destruction, and circus settings! What's **_**not**_** to like? Join us again for… you know… another chapter. And stuff.**


	10. BEER!, by Psychostick

**YAAY! Major alcohol reference. THIS IS WHY THIS STORY IS RATED TEEN PEOPLES! Don't drink 'til you're 21! Enjoy~**

**P. S. I am very disappointed in last chapter's review count. Thank you Kary Ryze for being the only reviewer, and for being such a supportive one!!! ALSO! I have my website out, if you care to visit it it is ****.****! **

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 10: BEER!!!, by Psychostick

SPECIAL THANKS TO CRAZYWING18 (?!)

Crazywing was having a blast with her new wings.

She was swooping, diving, corkscrewing, loop-the-looping, banking, and many other flighty tricks as if she'd been flying her entire life.

On ground level, the other three hosts were eager to get on with the contest. Rubberducky reached into the Top Hat of Fate and withdrew a square of paper. Slowly, she started to unfold it, when it disappeared.

Rubberducky was confused for only a second. She looked up, and facepalmed. Meanwhile, Crazywing had taken the sharpie and was presently scribbling on the paper. She floated to the ground and handed her friend the scrap. "Hereyago!"

Rubberducky facepalmed again and again. Then she took the paper and read off the name. "Crazywing18."

Crazywing looked genuinely surprised. "Really? I won! I WON!!!!"

This time, Flyleaf slapped her. "Okay. I'll buy it. Who do you want to sing, Crazywing?"

Crazywing didn't even have to think. "The tipsy old man."

DustyStroodle shook her head. "Okay. We have to kidnap the tipsy old man because he is not a main character. Wait here for a second…"

She left and came back.

"Whoopee!" said the Tipsy Old Man.

Rubberducky sat down on the ground. "Please kill me." She begged. "Please, please, please, _please_ kill me." [1]

"TIPSY OLD MAN!" Crazywing screamed. "YOU WILL BE SINGING A SONG CALLED BEER!!! BY PSYCHOSTICK! I WILL ADMIT THAT GALLOW HAD A BIT OF A SAY IN THE SONG THAT WE CHOSE BUT WE STILL AGREED ON IT!!!!!"

"Beer!" said the Tipsy Old Man.

"THANK GOD FOR ALTERNATIVE RADIO STATIONS! ONSTAGE YOU GO!!!"

The Tipsy Old Man stumbled out onstage by himself. (Good boy!)

Onstage, a large crowd was gathered and the Tipsy Old Man thought that they were cheering for the redness of the curtain. Until he realized that he was going to sing/read words off of the card that a brown-haired girl was holding. The song was called BEER!!! with the exclamation marks. And stuff.

Anywho, DustyStroodle started the beginning chant thingamajig.

"Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll Call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

Even the Tipsy Old Man could not resist the urge to glance at the judges. In the first seat was a British gecko, in the second was a disabled old lady, and in the third seat was a bunny.

The bunny looked rather vicious. If the old man could read, he would have noticed that the disabled old lady was Gallow's mother, and he would have noticed that the British gecko was the Geico Gecko, who had insured his scooter.

"ACTION!"

_**Beer**_, thought the Tipsy Old Man.

_"I drink beer 'cos it is good. I drink beer because I should. If there was a song to sing, I sing it and beer you bring."_

Since the Tipsy Old Man is completely focused on beer at the moment and the song is not helping, I am going have to look deep into his soul to find his real thoughts. This song of beer reminds him of his old dead wife.

_"I drink beer when I am sad. 'Cos the beer it makes me glad. Now there's nothing left to say, so let's go drink beer."_

You should see the backstage area. And you will, once this strange song is over with.

_"BEER IS GOOD! BEER IS GOOD! BEER IS GOOD! …and stuff. BEER IS GOOD! BEER IS GOOD! BEER IS GOOD! Let's go drink some BEEEEER!"_

_"BEEEEER!" _Screamed the audience.

_"BEEEEER!" _the Tipsy Old Man screamed back.

"_BEEEER!"_

_"BEER!"_

_"BEER!"_

_"BEER!"_

_"BEER!"_

It was time to continue on with the song. _"When it's warm it tastes real crappy but cold beer will make me happy. When I throw up on the floor, I can go and drink some more. They say beer will make me dumb. It are go good with pizza."_

The Tipsy Old Man actually thought that that was correct grammar.

_"Now that we have drunk some beer, let's go drive a car." _[2]

If he had known what a car was, he probably would have enjoyed singing that line or at least understood its relevance in this strangely pointless song.

"_BEER IS GOOD! BEER IS GOOD! BEER IS GOOD! …and stuff. BEER IS GOOD! BEER IS GOOD! BEER IS GOOD! Let's go drink some BEEEEEER!!!"_

_"BEEEEER!" _

_"BEEEEER!" _

"_BEEEER!"_

_"BEER!"_

_"BEER!"_

_"BEER!"_

_"BEER!"_

"Uh, dude? I think you've had enough..." came a voice from nowhere. It infuriated the Tipsy Old Man.

_**"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_

_"Let's go drink some beer."_

And with that, the strangest song since Salsa sang "Do You Like Waffles?" in Eternal Karaoke was over.

Crazywing skipped onstage and took the microphone. "Thanks Mr. Tipsy Old Man, sir! What do our judges think?"

The gecko was first. "Well I thought that it was rather strange and you look a bit drunk, my good man. But otherwise you sang quite well for a drunk person and the song fit you smashingly. But that will be one hell of a hangover, let me tell you."

The Tipsy Old Man was oblivious.

"Gallow's Mother?"

Gallow's mother had a perpetually worried face, which was not helped by her toe-less-ness [3] and crazy hairdo. "Well, I thought that it was weird. Was my Gal-Gal involved in any of this?"

Crazywing could almost hear her friend screaming "MO-THER!"

"Anyway, you remind me of a drunk guy I met in college once and you sang exactly like him. Terribly."

The Tipsy Old Man was still oblivious.

Finally, it was the rabid bunny from Monty Python and the Holy Grail's turn, who had suddenly gained the ability to speak. "I thought it was also pretty strange. Have you seen that strange sorcerer Tim anywhere? I have to bite his neck so he squirts blood everywhere. Other than that I hope you die of liver failure sometime soon."

The Tipsy Old Man had finally realized what was going on. "THANK YOU! GOODNIGHT! I'LL BE HERE TILL NORTHWESTERN BEATS HULLABALLOO AND THE PIRATES DON'T LOSE SO BADLY THE FLUBBY CHICAGO CUBS! [4] THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT!"

And he fell over and passed out from drunkenness.

The janitors moved in and picked him up. "You owe me twenty bucks," one of them growled to poor Crazywing.

Backstage…

…There was a drunken party going on.

Jazz, Fugue, and Frederic the Weredogan were all bumping into people and being drunk and stuff. Polka was passed out on the floor and hopefully dead (she wasn't… sigh…) while Beat, Salsa, and March were playing Russian Roulette with cans of Bud Lite. Falsetto was hanging by her ankles from the ceiling. Waltz, Tuba, Rondo, and Legato were having fake knife fights with broken wine bottles. Claves was stubbornly refusing to do anything, claiming that drinking was bad for your liver. Viola was setting off fireworks (please, do NOT do this if you are drunk… it's a _really_ bad idea…) and trying to shoot them down with her bow.

The only people who weren't drunk were Crazywing, DustyStroodle, Flyleaf, and Rubberducky. Okay, I'll admit it, Flyleaf was slightly buzzed. And Crescendo and Serenade, but they don't count. Anywho, they all were trying to re-get peace in the backstage area without any deaths. And pretty randomly, Frederic turned back from Frederic the Weredogan to Frederic the Very Pretty Person.

Whilst that was going down, Crazywing signed her name on the floor and screamed "ORDER IN THE COURT!!!!"

Order was restored.

"Thank you to the eight-year-olds for not getting drunk." She said. "Now we're gonna have to take away the alcohol for a while, you all might get hangovers and they're never a good thing, especially when you're trying to sing. And also, it's the next person's turn, so DustyStroodle, if you would?"

DustyStroodle handed her the Top Hat of Fate. She plucked out a square of paper."

"And the winner is…"

FOOTNOTES!!!

[1] – Please, don't kill her. She was kidding. It was a joke, okay?

[2] – Please, don't drive a car if you are drunk. Car crashes are the #1 killer of teens like me and I do not want to be killed by someone who decided to drive a car when drunk because of my story…

[3] – Yes, my mother is handicapped. Yes, my mother has no toes. I am not kidding about that, but I really couldn't care less anymore. It happened when I was in fifth grade. Sheesh. Don't ask me "Oh, are you okay?" 'cause it just doesn't help. She's had plenty of near-death experiences, and I've come to get used to them. There is a big fat ZERO on the pity-o-meter right now, and I'd like to keep it that way.

[4] – For those of you who are not enlightened about the poor, defenseless Pirates or the Flubby Cubbies, the Pirates lost to the Flubs 2-17. I despise the Flubs with all my heart right now.

**I'm usually not one to beg for the box, but REVIEW, PEOPLES! I do have a feeling that this one will do a bit better, what with the drunken party and crap. **


	11. She Was Dead, SR71

**Yaoi! The first yaoi I've ever written! I'm not so sure if it's good or bad, though, because I normally don't read it and this is the first I've ever written. Though I have read some Frederic/Fugue and Frederic/Jazz, so I kinda took from that, but put it pretty bluntly. Enjoy. **

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 11: I Wish She Was Dead, by SR-71

SPECIAL THANKS TO DREAMING VIOLET BUTTERFLY

"And the winner is…" Crazywing said, slowly…. Painfully slowly…. I mean, "GET ON WITH IT!" slowly unfolding the piece of paper. In fact, Rubberducky had already fallen asleep, and Jazz had passed out.

"DREAMING VIOLET BUTTERFLY!!!!!!!" Crazywing screamed to the heavens.

"I guess I'll go get him," said Flyleaf.

"No need, Flying-leafy girl…" came a very detached-sounding voice. Everybody whipped around and saw the winner standing there. He had a very dreamy look on his face, almost as if he were listening to smooth jazz (NO PUN INTENDED). But of course he wasn't listening to smooth jazz [1] because he could hear the girls perfectly fine.

"Cool." Said DustyStroodle. "You're Dreaming Violet Butterfly, huh?"

"Dreams, or Vio…" he corrected, still with that odd look on his face.

"Dreams, then," DustyStroodle said. "CD?"

Dreams looked as if he were floating, still with that far-away look on his face as he handed DustyStroodle the manila envelope. "I'll go tell the characters," he offered, and floated on over to the throne.

"Prince Crescendo," Dreams began, settling back. "You are going to be singing a song called 'I Wish She Was Dead' by SR-71. I hope you enjoy it…"

The leader of Baroque nodded.

Then Dreams turned to Serenade. "And I really do wish you were dead," he added. Serenade looked a little freaked out. Crescendo did as well.

"Okkkaaaayyy then…" Rubberducky said, who had been jolted back into consciousness from Crazywing's crazy loud scream. "Let's head out, Crishy."

Onstage, the crowd looked excited. They obviously remembered his performance during Eternal Karaoke. They were ready for a kick-heinie show. From Crescendo.

"Alrighty Crish." Said Flyleaf as she approached the prince. "You ready for this?"

Crescendo shrugged. "As I'll ever be," he sighed.

"Good, 'cause I don't want you to freak out. Anywho, Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll Call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

Crescendo looked at the table, because he knew that his eyes would be automatically drawn there anyway. Sitting there was Count Waltz, looking very snobbish as usual, Jazz, looking tense as a spring and more than a little bit intoxicated, and Serenade, looking worriedly up onstage. He attempted to smile to reassure her, but it didn't work. She remembered her time on that stage. [2]

"ACTION!"

The music was fast. REALLY fast. Crescendo doubted he would be able to keep up.

"_From the minute that I saw her she was different from the rest but I didn't hear her talking I was staring at her chest—"_

Serenade did not look very happy with that line.

_"Now I wish I would have listened 'cause I think I would have seen the signs. Now it's been a couple months and I can't take another word, she's been pushing every button she's been working every nerve now there's something she can swallow but it sure as hell is not my pride…"_

Why in the world was he singing this? That Dreams must have it in for him! He frowned as Serenade looked as if she were about to have a heart attack.

_"Yeah I know it's just a waste of time. Soon I'm gonna run out of… lies then she'll just have to hear the truth instead. Every day I'm gonna make her cry, till the minute that we say goodbye I'm gonna make her wiiiiissshhh… she was dead."_

She was shaking now. And suddenly, he felt slightly irritated. It was just a song! Why couldn't she just let it go? Then the rational-prince side of him took over and slapped the annoyed-with-Serenade side.

_"I used to hang out with my homies getting stupid every night till I met her and she chained me up to keep me out of sight gotta get away from her I think I'm running out of time. 'Cause I think I'm gonna die whenever she's behind the wheel—"_

Okay, there was no way he could argue with that one. After seventeen carriage crashes, one has to try to make sure that Serenade is _not_ driving.

_"And it drives me up a wall the way she asks me how I feel. I don't really wanna talk so I tell her that I'm doing fine there's gotta be a way that I can get it through her heaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad..."_

Great, now she had just burst into tears. Jazz scooched a little to the left. There's a problem. He'd rather be near his worst enemy than Crescendo's fiancé. Wonderful.

_"Yeah I know it's just a waste of time. Soon I'm gonna run out of… lies, then she'll just have to hear the truth instead. Every day I'm gonna make her cry, till the minute that we say goodbye I'm gonna make her wiiiissshhh…_

_"I'm going crazy, she won't let go. The leash gets tighter every day. Already told her she was Miss Right Now, but I wish she was Miss Yesterday…"_

She was banging her head on the table. In a very un-princess-like manner. More like a child having a tantrum. Crescendo frowned and waited for DustyStroodle to point to his next lines. _**Don't get angry, whatever you do, don't get angry…**_

__He got angry anyway. The next lines he sang in a very truthful manner, which made Serenade begin trying to slit her wrists with a butter knife. It didn't work. Where she got the butter knife from, though, the world may never know.

_"Yeah I know it's just a waste of time. Soon I'm gonna run out of… lies, then she'll just have to hear the truth instead. Every day I'm gonna make her cry, till the minute that we say goodbye I'm gonna make her wiiissshhh… she was dead."_

It was over. Crescendo heaved an obvious sigh of relief as DustyStroodle hopped onstage and took the microphone. "Judges?"

Waltz started. "Well, as much as I absolutely hate your guts I must say that I don't hate your singing voice. Better than I thought. Four and a half stars. Yaay. Bathe in your glory for now _Crishy_, because I will have my revenge of five stars straight across!!!"

Crescendo rolled his eyes. He'd heard about the Creep incident.

Jazz was next. "It was good but I think you'd better help sensitive here." He pointed a thumb at Serenade. "Does anyone have any vodka they wouldn't mind sharing?"

Several fangirlish cries of "MEEEeEEEEEEE!!!" and Jazz was suddenly bathed in vodka.

It was Sensitive's (Um, I mean Serenade's) turn. Luckily she had stopped slitting her wrists and had now pulled herself together enough to talk. "That… sniff sniff was… dramatically wipe tear from eye terrible… fold hands across table in a disappointed and quite sad manner Please promise me you'll never sing that again?"

But Crescendo had already gotten it stuck in his head and was humming it under his breath. He wouldn't forget a word.

"Good." DustyStroodle said. "Now you head backstage while I try and find something that would sober everyone up. Good day to you now."

Crescendo spun around while Sensitive clung to his arm sniffling and trying to pull herself together, mumbling incoherent things about taking steps backwards and Jazz's sudden obsession with vodka.

When they reached the backstage area, Crescendo wrenched himself free and joined Jazz, Frederic, and Fugue where they were stumbling around. He yanked a beer from Fugue's hand and poured it down his throat.

"Beer is good… and stuff…" he mumbled, then snatched the beer from Frederic's hand.

Jazz, now with nothing to do and no more vodka on his person, tapped the composer on his shoulder. "Hey wanna make out?" he said.

The composer, also with nothing do and no more beer, shrugged and said, "Eh, why not?"

So they did just that. And amazing things happened.

Polka, I'm happy to say, took one look at the rebel leader and the pianist and began to hyperventilate and have a total social meltdown, because she had been counting him making out with her and not Jazz. She began to scream very drunkenly and clutch her hair, pulling hard enough to rip large chunks out.

Soon enough, she was bald. (YAAAY!)

Dreams began to applaud. Still very calmly and sleepishly, but it was applauding.

Suddenly, DustyStroodle burst in with a syringe and a few small bottles that looked like Five Hour Power. "I found that Sober Shots!™" She screamed, and stuck the needle into everyone in turn.

Everyone was immediately sober. Even Flyleaf.

There was order and no more drunkenness in the backstage area, so this fanfic's rating can go from T back down to K+++.

"Thank you…" Dreams said, hopping off the seat of the throne, still in a rather floaty way. "I just have one more thing to do…" he pulled a button from his pocket and pressed it.

Sensitive, who had been clutching onto her now-sober-thirty-seconds-ago-drunk fiancé fell through a trap door/ditch in the floor.

Everyone was happy again.

"Here's the marker. Sign the floor," Flyleaf said. Dreams did.

"Hopefully, I'll be back, if the Top Hat of Fate allows…" he said, then backed out of the backstage, and the door shut with sobering _thump_.

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – That was a rather weird analogy, I'll admit, but smooth jazz just seems like the type of music dreamy people listen to. Though, Dreams, if you don't like smooth jazz please not that you aren't listening to it. YAAAYYY, CONTEXT!!!

[2] – For those of us _cheating _(glares pointedly at most of the audience) and not reading the prequel of this story, you wouldn't know what happened to Serenade during her turn. Well, I'm going to tell you to spare the trouble. I am also not a big fan of Sensitive and she sings Belief by John Mayer, then tries to sentence me to something, but I turn her phrase and encase her face in an iron mask. Then I hit her over the head with a titanium baseball bat and kick her heels. It was quite fun for me, let me tell you.

**Now for homework, all of you have to go read Serenade's chapter of Eternal Karaoke! Ha! Don't forget to get all your ideas in before the deadline, peoples! It'll close in faster than you think!**


	12. Mastermind, Mindless Self Indulgence

**FINALLY! I know you've all been anxiously awaiting this gorgeous chapter. Jazz and Fugue fangirls should enjoy this especially. Enjoy~**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 12: Mastermind, by Mindless Self Indulgence

SPECIAL THANKS TO BLACKFLURRYOFSNOW

Flyleaf sighed. "Someone's feeling the stresses of procrastination at school already…" she said. "The Top Hat of Fate, if you will?"

Rubberducky handed it over.

She reached deep down into the hat, so deep down that her whole arm ended up completely disappearing into it. "Here we go," she said, pulling it out and handing DustyStroodle the slip. It looked ancient, almost as if it were made out of parchment. When she tried to open it, it snapped in half.

"BlackFlurryo—" she began, then read the other half. "fSnow."

"Crazywing?" said Crazywing.

"Don't hurt yourself," DustyStroodle said. Crazywing squeed and ran out of the door, a bit floating with her wings but a bit not, if you know what I mean. She came back exactly 0.37649265492649357494037 seconds later.

"BlackFlurryo—fSnow has arrived!" she screamed hyperactively, did a cartwheel, and somehow ended up hanging from the rafters.

"Hi." She said. "Call me Giovana."

Rubberducky shrugged. "Looks innocent enough."

"You have no idea." Giovana said. "Here's my CD. Can I do something before we start?"

Flyleaf crossed her arms. "Does it involve arson?"

"No."

"Drunkenness?"

"No."

"Pain, suffering, or blood and gore in any way?"

"Not really."

"Depression?"

"Maybe."

"Sounds like fun. Do it!!!"

"Okay. Could everybody stand on the BIG RED 'X' in the middle of the room?" Giovana said, sticking a hand nonchalantly in her pocket.

All of the characters looked at one another, but obeyed.

"Okay. Since Dreams was kind enough to lend me his big red ditch-like button, I decided to make the ditch deeper using my superhero-awesome-pwnage strength." She whipped the button out of her pocket. "Don't move."

I don't know why the hell they didn't move, but they didn't as Giovana pressed the button and they all went flying down the pit.

Everyone should be face-palming at this point. [1]

Instantaneously, an army of janitors and rescue-squad members entered the backstage area to get the fictional characters out of the ditch.

Meanwhile, Giovana walked up and casually caught Fugue's monocle, which had been spinning very cartoon-like in the air next to the pit.

"Rescue him," she muttered, looking at one side of the monocle. "Don't." she turned it over.

Flipping it like a coin, she waited as it fell to the ground. Peering at it, she shrugged, then knelt next to the pit and reached into it. Jazz was retrieved, set down calmly, and Giovana went to sit on the throne while watching and laughing as the rescue team struggled to rescue the rest of the cast from the ditch.

Just as his head appeared over the edge of the ditch, Giovana waved to Fugue. "Oh, by the way, Fuguey, you're going to be singing Mastermind by Mindless Self Indulgence. I hope you enjoy the song."

Fugue sighed and kicked Allegretto in the face as he climbed the rope to the top. That sent Giovana into near-hysterics.

"Alright." He said. "I'm going."

"Wait! Can you break dance?"

Fugue glared at Giovana. "No. And I'm not going to."

"Will you wear this fedora? Gray let me borrow it."

"No."

Onstage…

"Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

Waltz was sitting in the first seat, looking almost… fearful? He remembered Fugue's last time up there. Next to him was Rondo, wearing a shirt with the name of a screamo band on it. Finally, it was Tuba, also wearing the screamo t-shirt, but in x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x large size.

"ACTION!!!!!!"

The music started, with a good beat. Fugue could agree with this, especially after reading the first three lyrics.

_"I am the mastermind, leaving you all behind, and that ain't no fucking lie. I am the mastermind, it's just a problem of mine, it's like columbine… CO-LUM-BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"_

It started out as a whisper, but rose to a scream. Yes, Fugue could definitely agree with this.

_"Your time has come, kiss it all goodBYYYYYYEEEE, your time has come, kiss it all goodbye."_

Rondo nodded and wrote something down.

_"What's that ruckus, what's that ruckus, what's that ruckus coming through the night, that's right—that's right—that's right this message cannot be denied. What's that ruckus, what's that ruckus, what's that ruckus coming through the night, that's right—that's right—that's right"_

Now he was _rapping? _How could he have not heard of this song before?

_"I am the mastermind, underline mastermind, until your pencil breaks. I am the mastermind, just like a suicide, your credit has been de ni-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-e-e-d-d-d. DE-NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDD!!!"_

He liked this song very much, and he wanted to chase and destroy Waltz's ego again. Yeah, that would be fun…

_"Your time has come, kiss it all goodBYYYYYYEEEE, your time has come, kiss it all goodbye. What's that ruckus, what's that ruckus, what's that ruckus coming through the night, that's right—that's right—that's right this shit gonna turn your momma white. What's that ruckus, what's that ruckus, what's that ruckus coming through the night, that's right—that's right—that's right"_

He got a pause for breath. Believe it or not, he'd done that all with one lungful.

_"Oh Penn-syl-vain-ia. Oh Penn-syl-vain-iaaaa. Oh Penn-syl-vain-ia. Oh Penn-syl-vain-iaaaa."_

At this point, he almost wanted to break dance, and his mood was raised from Depressed to Somewhat Emo. [2]

_"I am the mastermind, intelligent by design, it makes me wanna cry. I am the mastermind, and now that I'm satisfied, it's time to say good bye. GOOD-BYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!_

"_Your time has come, kiss it all goodBYYYYYYEEEE, your time has come, kiss it all goodbye. What's that ruckus, what's that ruckus, what's that ruckus coming through the night, that's right—that's right—that's right I will not apologize. What's that ruckus, what's that ruckus, what's that ruckus coming through the night, that's right—that's right—that's right."_

It ended quite suddenly.

Flyleaf skipped up onstage. "Judges?"

Waltz started, but got punched in the face by Rondo in doing so. "Ow. Not bad, even though I despise admitting that you have a good voice. And I think that song applies to me more than it ever will apply to you."

Refer to chapter Wasting Time by Red to see what happens next. The ego-destroying part.

"Well, again, you show promise in that screamo career," Rondo said. "You sure?"

Fugue glared at her. "Enough with the screamo band."

"Excelente, mi companiono. Tu showo promiso en la screamo careero." Tuba said, reading out of _Spanish For Dummies_. "Yo hopeo tu go-o faro."

"Okay, that's good." Flyleaf said. "Go backstage, we really need your help."

Fugue obeyed. He had gotten all the _rebellious mastermind_ out of him while destroying Waltz's ego for the second time today.

There was nothing strange going on backstage, but Giovana approached him and whispered, "See Crescendo and Serenade? See how she's kinda sucking on his face? Well, we just thought they were making out for a while, but then we realized that she'd gone cannibal and she was _eating_ Crishy."

Fugue was immediately freaked out. "What's that on her wrists?"

"Well, we're not quite sure how, but she ate a few people and was slitting her wrists with their teeth. She's an emo cannibal these days." [3]

"Oh. Easily the weirdest part of my day."

"Yeah." Giovana agreed. "Hey Jazz?"

Jazz was presently trying to restrain Serenade. "What?"

"Take off your shirt."

"WHAT?"

"Take off your shirt."

"WHY?"

"Just take it off."

"But what about—"

"HOT DOGS, GET YOUR HOT DOGS!!!" came a voice. An old man on a hot-dog cart came rolling by. Serenade immediately forgot about her fiancée and started to chase after the hot dog cart.

Jazz took his shirt off.

Giovana took a picture with Beat's camera, signed the floor, and left.

"Never mind, _that_ was the weirdest part of my day." Fugue commented.

FOOTNOTES!

[1] – I'm just curious, but how many people actually facepalmed when I told them to?

[2] – Fugue's not a very happy person today. I'm sure his fangirls are feeling sad right now. But it's okay, Kary and Evb and all the other fangirls that I didn't mention, he will always be happy in your souls.

[3] – No offense to emos or cannibals, but I just don't like Serenade very much. I'll tune down the Serenade-hate if you want me to, but I WILL NEVER TUNE DOWN THE POLKA HATE!!!!!!

**Yup, that was the weirdest part of my day, too. I really hope you likey. I will tune down any kind of hate you want (because there seems to be a lot of it in this chapter…) except for Polka hate, because I JUST HATE HER WITH ALL OF MY GUTS. The deadline's closing in… I only have about 25 entries right now… on this day. Goodbye.**


	13. Mr Brightside, the Killers

**I luvz this song. Okay, I did it. Laughing hysterically, but I did it. Just barely missed the deadline. Ugh. Homework time now.**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 13: Mr. Brightside, by the Killers

SPECIAL THANKS TO APPLAUDISSEMENT SONIQUE

The weirdest part of Fugue's day was just about to get weirder.

It was Rubberducky's turn to draw from the THoF **(That's a good nickname for our dear Top Hat of Fate, I'm gonna call it that from now on.)**. She reached down into it and pulled out her scrap of paper.

"The winner is Abblahdis—NEON!" She said.

"Okay, it's not that difficult. Applaud-issement-sonique." Flyleaf corrected. "You're just scared of big words."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am—"

"HELLLLLOOOOOO FORTEAIN TERRITORY!" Came a screaming voice. "I JUST TOOK OVER FRANCE!"

"DustyStroodle…?" Crazywing asked, for once not that hyper.

"Aye! And I've got Neon." DustyStroodle came rolling in on the back of a tank. Neon popped out of the top and slid down. "Have a nice time, all of you. I'm off to take over Scotland!"

She rolled out. [1]

"Cool." Neon said. "HIYA FREDERIC!!!!!"

"Hello, Neon."

"SWEET! Anywho here is the CD I am very excited for this chapter I have been wanting to do it since May!!!" She bounced over to the throne. "ALLEGRETTO!!!"

The gray-haired teen, who had been lucky enough to escape most of the Karaoke wrath, looked up. "Great. What am I singing _this_ time?"

"Oh, it's not a stupid song at all! I'm sure you'll enjoy it!" Neon nodded vigorously. "It is a song called Mr. Brightside by a band called the Killers. Run along now. Enjoy."

Crazywing took off his handcuffs and began to lead him onstage. "Oh! Yes! Frederic, I'm sure you'll enjoy this song too! Polka, I probably would say you'd enjoy it too, but Gallow has strict rules about talking to you."

Polka facepalmed. What had she done to make Gallow girl hate her so much? [2]

"But anywho," Neon said, leaning back. "GET ON WITH THE EMBARASSING SINGING!!!!!"

Allegretto was rushed onstage.

"Okey doke, sing as best you can li'l bro you can DO EET!!!" Crazywing said. Allegretto was slightly perturbed.

"Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

Contralto Cowell, Rhyme Jackson, and Pianissimo Abdul (Er, Simon, Randy and Paula). The usual.

"ACTION!!!"

Retto jumped. No stopping it now.

_"Comin' outta my cage and I've been doing just fine, gotta gotta be down, because I want it all. It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss."_

Retto turned bright red, then purple, then green, then it almost seemed like he turned rainbow. _**Oh God, a song about Polka……………………**_

_"Now I'm falling asleep, and she's calling a cab, while he's having a smoke, and she's taking a drag, now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick, and it's all in my head, but she's touching his chest, now he takes off her dress, now, let me go…"_

The gray haired teen's eyes popped. Weirdest picture EVER. _Especially_ because it was _Frederic _he was picturing. He shuddered. Yup, weirdest picture ever.

_"And I just can't look, it's killing me, and taking control. Jealousy, turning saints into the sea, turning through sick lullabies, chocking on your alibis,"_

He felt sick. How could anyone be jealous of that freakish Chopin? He thought he had a couple of dry heaves for a second there. Luckily, the hosts hadn't ordered pizza. So they were just dry.

_"But it's just the price I pay, destiny is calling me, open up my eager eyes, 'cause I'm Mr. Brightside."_

He couldn't get past the "He takes off her dress now," part. If he could, he would have probably been able to enjoy the song, and the fact that he was singing it rather well.

_"Comin' outta my cage and I've been doing just fine, gotta gotta be down, because I want it all. It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this, it was only a kiss, it was only a kiss."_

Oh God, of course he had to sing it again. He felt like he was going to faint. He also had a sudden flashback of the kiss that they _had_ shared, and it helped him _not _to faint.

_"Now I'm falling asleep, and she's calling a cab, while he's having a smoke, and she's taking a drag, now they're going to bed, and my stomach is sick, and it's all in my head, but she's touching his chest, now he takes off her dress, now, let me go…"_

He was able to pull through. He didn't choke. This time around, the picture didn't seem so bad. No dry heaves.

_"'Cause I just can't look, it's killing me, and taking control. Jealousy, turning saints into the sea, turning through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis, but it's just the price I pay, destiny is calling me, open up my eager eyes, 'cause I'm Mr. Brightside."_

He was pissed. Pissed at that freaking Chopin, for taking _his _girl. Pissed for making _his_ girl jump off a freaking cliff. Just plain old _pissed._

_"I never…  
__ I never…  
__I never…  
__I never…"_

It was over.

He received a stunning amount of applause (which he didn't notice…) and excellent judge reviews (which he didn't hear…).

Contralto (dammit, Simon) started. "You, Gray-Haired-Fictional-Character, put heart and soul into that song. You believed in what you were singing, and for that I applaud you." He clapped. The crowd followed suit.

Rhyme was next. "That was HOT! That was so HOT I saw you dry heavin'!"

More applause.

Pianissimo finished up. "Excellent! Go backstage and beat up whoever did that to you!"

He was escorted backstage and did just that.

"Holy—! Why in the world did you do that, Allegretto?!" Said Frederic, clutching his face where the gray haired teen just punched him.

"I know all about you and Polka, and I'm going to FREAKING KILL YOU!!!!!" He screamed, shaking his fist and kneeing the composer in the place where the sun don't shine, if you get my meaning.

Soon enough, it was a full out brawl. Neon was cheering and clapping as the two dudes fought it out.

Frederic did end up losing when Allegretto somehow got hold of his hat and held a match to it. He almost freaked out, got kicked in the same area, then they both were tackled by the security guards and handcuffed on opposite sides of the line. Polka was bright red and horrified.

"AWESOME! THAT WAS WORTH WAITING… May, June, July, August, and most of September for!" Neon said.

On the Sharpie Floor, she just added a "II" to her previous signature. And she drew a top hat and a rough drawing of Retto and Chopin battling it out.

"I'll be back, you'll see!" she called as she headed out.

Frederic winced. He had a bad feeling.

!FOOTNOTES!

[1] – Yeah, um. Long story. Many clones. Don't ask.

[2] – There are many reasons for why I hate Polka. She stole the spotlight. Her voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard. She's a suicidal idiot. She's got it all wrong. Her mother looks nothing like her. She fights with an umbrella. I say she should have jumped off the damn cliff and have been done with it. It would have made me much happier if she hadn't survived.

**Hehhehheh, big plans for the next chapter. I bet you can't wait. :D That makes me happay.**


	14. Bodhisattva, Steely Dan

**hello hello i don't know why you say goodbye i say hello HELLO HELLO HELLO HELLLLOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! we're all gonna miss you, Gray.**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE  
An Eternal Sonata Fanfic  
By child of the gallows  
Chapter 14: Bodhisattva, by Steely Dan

SPECIAL THANKS TO GRAYJACK72

"Lessee, the next winner is…" Crazywing plucked a square of paper out of the THoF and oragami'd it into a duck. "Grayjack72."

"Again?????" Rubberducky said. "How many ideas does this guy have?"

"It says…" Crazywing held up Fugue's monocle to her eye. "...'This is the last one, I swear it, dear God pick me I've wanted to do this for so long.'"

"Oh GRAAAAY!!!" Highness Empress of the World DustyStroodle called.

"I'll get him." Flyleaf said. "Nice to see you back here, Gray."

"Nice to be back, even though it's my last idea," he said, looking almost unnaturally excited. "Now, where's that CD…" He patted every pocket on his gray jacket. Then he patted the pockets on his jeans. Then he facepalmed. "Jesus, I forgot the CD." He explained.

"Um…" Flyleaf hummed. "Well, what was your idea?"

"I wanted Frederic to sing—"

The characters moaned, and Frederic hung his head. It had been a glorious nine chapters of doing absolutely nothing except watching others get tortured.

"—Bodhisattva by Steely Dan."

That sent the hosts on a thinking spree. "Ah!" they all snapped at the same time. "Downloadable sheet music!"

"I call drums!" DustyStroodle shouted.

"Bass guitar!" Rubberducky claimed.

"Bells and Whistles!" Crazywing called.

"Guitar!" Gray said, wanting to join in on the fun.

"I got notecards!" Flyleaf said loudly.

"But there's a piano, too." Gray added. "Who's gonna play—oh. Piano virtuoso, forgot that for a second." He nodded. "Frederic. You will be playing—and singing—Bodhisattva by Steely Dan. Come on, now, let's ROCK!"

Everyone charged onstage. It took a moment to set up all the needed instruments, but in the end they got them all up on time. Frederic was rather nervous. No one cared.

"Ready?" DustyStroodle called from behind the drum set. "Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music!"

Everyone played a scale in harmony. It sounded quite nice.

"Rollcall—"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

Polka, Viola, and the No-Handed Captain Dolce were sitting behind the judges' table. Polka was waiting expectantly. Viola was daydreaming. Dolce was discussing prosthetics with a plastic surgeon.

"ACTION!"

DustyStroodle started out. Soon she was joined by Gray and Rubberducky, then Frederic tentatively played a few chords. It sounded pretty good. Crazywing played along with her bells and whistles. The crowd clapped when their "sheet music" aka the "applause" light-up thingy told them to.

_"Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand? Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand?" _Frederic's voice was a little quiet at first, but then started to warm up as the music got louder and the piano got a lot cooler. _"Can you show me the shine in your Japan, the sparkle of your China, can you show me, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva?"_

He liked the idea of comparing his situation to one of a bodhisattva. It made sense. [1] He had never thought of it that way, but he definitely understood it. He tapped some more keys and continued to sing.

_"I'm gonna sell my house in town. Bodhisattva, I'm gonna sell my house in town. And I'll be there, to shine in your Japan, to sparkle in your China, yes I'll be there, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva."_

Now he was really into it. With no need for the pedals, he swung his legs under the seat, playing the chords like he had written the song. The rest of the members were also having a blast, Gray with his solo, Rubberducky playing along, DustyStroodle with her insane drumming, and Crazywing with all the obscure instruments. [2]

They played for a while.

Somehow, Frederic found himself eagerly awaiting the next lines. Gray had turned out to be a surprisingly good guitarist, not missing a note.

Then came the fun instruments that Crazywing got to play. She was definitely enjoying herself, playing strange sounds that I definitely couldn't assign an instrument. But it sounded good. It was a very upbeat song, and it got everyone going. Polka, Viola, even Dolce were dancing along.

_"Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand? Bodhisattva, would you take me by the hand? Can you show me the shine in your Japan, the sparkle of your China, can you show me, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva?_

The song was repeating. No one minded at all.

_"I'm gonna sell my house in town. Bodhisattva, I'm gonna sell my house in town. And I'll be there to shine in your Japan, to sparkle in your China, yes I'll be there, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, look out!"_

Another cool guitar solo. Sadly, this one lasted until the end. But it did have an awesome wavy ending, with plenty of fancy guitar work, drum work, piano work, fancy-instrument work, and bass work. And of course, our favorite composer slammed down in fancy chords at the end.

Stunning applause—probably the loudest yet—echoed throughout the rafters in Forte. Just about the entire city was there, listening to the concert. Which should make these next few chapters extra nerve-wracking and angsty.

"Judges?" DustyStroodle said, quite out of breath. She had played her heart out.

Polka was supposed to be first, but I will deny her that privilege. So Viola will be first. "Wow, guys, that was amazing. Did you all know how to play those instruments, or was that just authorific skill-sharpening ability?"

Everyone looked at one another, but replied. "Natural skill."

Next was Dolce. "I have to agree, the music is much better live. And top hat, that was some fancy piano abilities. You play?"

"Yeah. Just about my entire life. I'm famous." Frederic replied, for once pretty glad to say it. He _was_ famous.

"Impressive." Dolce said. "And nice solos, Gray."

And Polka. "I really liked it, guys! I wish I could have gotten up there and played!" she said. "I play a mean discord membranophone!"

"Translation: You play a terrible drum solo!" DustyStroodle mocked, for the sake of our dear Gallow, who has been starving for insulting Polka for a while. [3]

Polka stuck out her tongue. "Anyway I give it a straight 5 stars!"

"Nice." Gray said, setting down his guitar gently.

Everyone headed backstage. There were a few claps and cheers.

"I guess this is it." DustyStroodle handed Gray the sharpie.

"Yeah." Gray said, bending down and signing his name one last time. "I was really surprised nothing random happened in this episode."

Randomly, Francis Scott Key ran naked across the stage, singing in a very deep voice: "OH SAY CAN YOU SEE~"

The hostesses and winner blinked.

"Um… speak of the devil. That was _creepy_." Gray said.

"Yeah." Crazywing, Flyleaf, and Rubberducky agreed. DustyStroodle said nothing because she has had an uncontrollable crush on Francis Scott Key since fifth grade. [4]

"Well, see you."

The first contestant—Grayjack72, first review May 24, 2009, with a total of three excellent chapters—departed from the stage. And thus, a new era in Eternal Karaoke-ing was born—an era without Steely Dan, Nirvana, or Sublime. Which makes your dear authoress want to cry. This was supposed to be sad, but it's not turning out that way. Whatever. Goodbye, Grayjack72, may the music always be with you, and may that picture of Francis Scott Key naked fade from your memory.

!FOOTNOTES!

[1] – For those of you who have no idea what a Bodhisattva is, I'll try to explain it from memory. It's in Buddhist religion; someone who has achieved enlightenment but chooses to stay on earth to help others achieve enlightenment, I think. Something like that. You get the idea, I hope.

[2] – It is a really, _really_ cool solo. It's about two minutes long, and it is really fancy. If you don't normally listen to the songs, at least youtube it and listen. I like it. And the ending is worth listening to, too.

[3] – DustyStroodle's translation was pretty accurate, actually……… dammit, I need better insults…

[4] – THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!! I apologize to DustyStroodle. I realize that was random and completely unnecessary, but sometimes you just need something to disturb you out of your mind. And if you don't know who Francis Scott Key is, he wrote the National Anthem of the U. S…

**We'll all miss you and your fancy songs, Gray, and your ability to pick on dear Fryderyk Francisczek Szopen. And Claves. That was funny. (goes off humming Drain You.)**


	15. Summer Nights, Rascal Flatts

**HELLLLOOOO FANFICTION COMMUNITY! GALLOW IS IN DA HOUSE!!! Heh sorry for the long wait, guys. Busy month. I had basketball almost every day, algebra's really starting to beat down, AND I just bought Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. Heheheheheheheh. Yeah. Here you go. **

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 15: Summer Nights, by Rascal Flatts

SPECIAL THANKS TO CRAZYWING18

"Crazywing, where the heck did you put the THoF?!" Dustystroodle screamed. The winged girl surreptitiously looked around and pointed at Beat.

"HE HAS IT I SWEAR!"

"Then what's up with your new helmet?" Flyleaf wondered, pointing at the suspiciously familiar hat on her head.

"IT'S A FAMILY HEIRLOOM, I SWEAR!"

"Okay. Cat's out of the bag, now. Give us a scrap of paper and you can still wear it." Rubberducky crossed her arms.

"NEVER, I SWEAR!"

"Oh, come oonn, Crazywing." Rubberducky rolled her eyes in a very calm-mother-like fashion. 

Crazywing, not used to motherly love, was somewhat frozen up with fear and/or shock. "OKAY OKAY BUT YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING FOR ME."

"What is it?"

"I HAVE AN IDEA."

The three hosts not holding the precious THoF hostage glanced at each other. "The show must go on," DustyStroodle sighed. "Alright. Give me the hat, and you can do your idea."

"WHOOPEE!" Crazywing did a flip and swept off the hat in a very elaborate gesture. "By the way, the THoF was right behind you. That's Frederic's hat."

DustyStroodle cursed her stupidity. "Here's a whole 'nother chapter that we didn't have to do…" she muttered. "Alright. Alright. Announce your idea. Just, make it quick, okay?!"

"YUS! ALRIGHT! BEATY-BEAT-BEAT!" The semi-idiotic hybrid glided over to the throne. "YOU WILL BE SINGING SUMMER NIGHTS BY RASCAL FLATTS! I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT AND I HOPE THAT IT DOESN'T RUIN YOUR INNOCENCE!"

Beat cheered. He was the only one who truly enjoyed the singing on this show. He always got the good songs.

He was unshackled by Flyleaf and out of the curtain faster than you could say "Gloop." That is, if it took you a few minutes to say the word "Gloop," or you just said "."

"Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll Call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

The judges table had some odd characters today. Sitting in the first seat was Tim, the sorcerer from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In the second seat sat a kid named Ryan, but for now we shall call him JumpShot. [1] In the third and final seat sat Crazywing's brother, Jake, but we shall call him The Dog.

"ACTION!!!"

The crowd cheered and drums banged. Beat was liking the song.

_"Hahahaha! It's summer nights, baby! Woo! Yeaaaaahhh!"_

The crowd was jamming already. It's always fun to look out from onstage and see that the crowd that you are trying to entertain is already having fun, even before the true fun begins.

_"Come on ladies, it's time to pop that top. And fellas, I know you're ready to rock. We went crazy cooped up all winter long and school is out so let's get it on, flip flop tans and some white sand, I know the perfect spot."_

It reminded Beat of days spent on Ritardando's beaches. Sure, the sand wasn't quite white, and he always managed to get bitten by some sort of fish, but the water was so irresistibly blue that you just had to swim.

_"Well the sunset better set soon so we can get in the mood. Things start getting all heated up when it starts getting cool, yeah, summer nights, everybody are you with me, let that Igloo cooler mark your piece of paradise. Summer nights, everybody's feeling sexy, holler if you're ready for some summer nights._

_ "Come on!"_

The crowd was really pumped up. Most of them were hollering, since Forte is a temperate zone and it was starting to get pretty cool out.

_"Oooooohhhh yeah yeah!_

_ "Now, fellas, you better watch your step. Don't let them teeny French bikinis make you lose your breath. Back to the ladies! Y'all keep doing y'all's thing. 'Cause everything about you makes me wanna sc-REAM!!!"_

He looked like a perfect li'l rock star up there. Very angelic. Very cute. His only regret was that he didn't bring his camera.

_"The sun is getting low, there it goes, here we go, here comes the moon. Things start getting all heated up when it starts getting cool, yeah. Summer nights, everybody, are you with me? Let that Igloo cooler mark your piece of paradise. Summer nights, everybody's feeling sexy, holler if you're ready for some summer nights!"_

Guitar solo ensues, punctuated by frequent "Woo!"s and "Ohhhh"s.

_"It's a party down, probably big bonfire on the beach. It's Coronas in Daytona y'all, well, it's wild and it's freeeeeee!"_

Coronas. Bad drunken memories.

"_Summer nights, everybody, are you with me? Let that Igloo cooler mark your piece of paradise. Summer nights, everybody's feeling sexy, holler if you're ready for some summer nights!_

_ "Come on!"_

The crowd clapped along in unison, cheering, screaming, singing.

"_Summer nights, everybody, are you with me? Let that Igloo cooler mark your piece of paradise. Summer nights, everybody's feeling sexy, holler if you're ready for some summer nights! Yeeaaaaah! _

_ "Ooooh are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? For some summer nights! Yeah, baby, summer nights! It's summer nights! Come on!"_

Loud cheers for the cute kid. Crazywing ran up onstage and asked the inevitable question: "Judges?"

"Ummm…" Tim said. "Er… good singing… But the song was not suitable for an eight year old."

"Ummm…" JumpShot said. "Nice job, kid… I agree with Tim…"

The Dog was laughing hysterically. Hoots and snorts kept erupting from him. "THAT… hahahaha… WAS… hahahaha… PRICELESS!"

"Immature." Crazywing folded her arms. "Nice job, Beat, ol' buddy."

Beat was feeling a little confused. Why was everyone kind of freaked out when he was done with the song, even though they said he did a good job? Maybe it was that one word that he didn't know… sexy or something. He would ask Retto. Retto knew everything.

He did a flip-flop backstage and stuck it. "Retto?" he asked, flip-flopping over to his friend.

"What's up, Beat?"

He motioned for the gray-haired teen to bend over. Quietly, he whispered in his ear.

"What does sexy mean?"

It produced an unexpected result.

The teen turned a bright crimson color, started babbling, and all Beat could get out of it was "you'll figure it out when you're older."

What did it mean?

What did it mean?

_What did it mean?_

"I'm a big boy, Retto! Tell me or I'll post those pictures on the message board in EVERY CITY IN THE WORLD!!!"

"Go ahead, Beat. Just because you have a Photoshopped picture of my head on the body of a rubber ducky doesn't mean that it's the most—"

"Not that picture. The picture of what you were for Halloween."

"Oh." Allegretto went through a major color change from bright red to pale white. "Erm… here." He bent down and whispered a few words in his ear.

The kid's eyes grew wide and he almost began to faint.

!FOOTNOTES!

[1] – Funny story about this guy. 1st period algebra. My friend Cripple told me to hit him (and he sits behind me) so I hit him on the arm. It drew no reaction, so I slapped him right across the face. TRUE STORY! He had a red mark there for hours. Now he hates me so YAY ME!

**Yay. I have next week off of school so I'll try to get not one, not two, but three more chapters in this whole week so stay tuned for more stupid musical stupidity!!!!!**


	16. Paparazzi, Lady Gaga

**Installation #2!!!!! Enjoy~**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 16: Paparazzi, by Lady Gaga

SPECIAL THANKS TO BLACKFLURRYOFSNOW

"And the next winner is…" Flyleaf drew a square. "BlackFlurryOfSnow."

"Giovana!?" Rubberducky clapped her hands over her mouth in an excessively dramatic way. "Did we fill in the ditch?"

"With dirt, no. With bodies, yes." DustyStroodle said thoughtfully, stroking an invisible mustache. "My new world order is turning out to be more Hitler than I first imagined…" [1]

"Er… you do that." Flyleaf said, tossing Crazywing the scrap of paper, which she ate hungrily.

"Man, I'm not so sure if I like that girl. She wants my man."

"We all know, Crazywing." Came a voice. A familiar voice. The backstage door opened and a bunch of black snowflakes flurried in, followed by the dreaded—I mean, lovely face of Giovana. "By the way, he is my man."

"_You…"_ The winged girl growled, shaking her fist.

"_You…" _The winner echoed, also shaking her fist.

"Anywho…" Rubberducky cut in. "We've truly got to get on with it, we've got two more episodes scheduled this hour. Who is singing?"

"Me."

"…What?"

"Me."

"…Okay then. Er…"

Giovana marched over to the throne, sat herself down in it, and announced: "GIOVANA! YOU SHALL BE SINGING PAPARAZZI BY LADY GAGA!"

The characters looked on helplessly. Like, deer-in-the-headlights look.

"Oh, by the way, Beat, I'm gonna need you to pretend to be a paparazzi for me. Jazz, I need to borrow your face."

The winner stood up, snatched the kid's from his handcuffs in a way that defies all science, slapped Allegretto across the face, and tugged Jazz along by the ear. When that didn't work, she settled on dragging him by his ponytail.

Onstage, she sat him down in the crowd, far away in a restricted section, mind you, and took up her microphone. Beat was standing meekly behind her, ready to take pictures of whatever she told him to.

"Er… Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll Call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

The tugging effect had no affect on Giovana, since she was not subject to the laws of fictional characters. But, just so you know, the judges were Waltz, looking just as usual, Rondo, looking just as usual, and Tuba, looking slightly fatter than usual. Oh, and his moustache was more handlebar-y. And his Mohawk was slightly longer.

"ACTION!!!"

The song started off with a clappy-ish, nice beat.

_"We are the crowd, we're cuh-coming out, got my flash on it's true, need that picture of you—"_

She pointed at Jazz, and Beat snapped a few pictures.

_"It's so magical, we'd be so fantastic, oh. Leather and jeans, garage glamorous, not sure what that means, but this photo of us, it don't have a price. Ready for those flashing lights, cause you know that baby, I, _

_ "I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me, papa-paparazzi,"_

One could only imagine the look on Crazywing's face.

_"Baby, there's no other superstar you know that I'll be your papa-paparazzi."_

Beat, getting the point, snapped some more pictures, acting like, well, a paparazzi.

_"Promise I'll be kind, but I won't stop until that boy is mine. Baby you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me, papa-paparazzi!"_

The judges looked impressed already. Giovana looked… well, no other way to say it but alive.

_"I'll be your girl, backstage at your show, velvet ropes and guitars, yeah, cause you're my rock star, in between the sets, eyeliner and cigarettes _[2] _shadow is burnt, yellow dance and return, my lashes are dry, purple teardrops I cry. It don't have a price. Loving you is cherry pie."_

Mmmmm… pie.

_"'Cause you know that baby, I, I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me, papa-paparazzi, baby, there's no other superstar you know that I'll be, your papa-paparazzi. Promise I'll be kind, but I won't stop until that boy is mine. Baby, you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me, papa-paparazzi!"_

Beat was beginning to run out of film… actually, he had run out of film, but the kid, always eager to please, kept snapping pictures of the rather shocked looking rebel.

_"Real good, we dance in the studio, snap, snap, to that shit on the radio. Don't stop for anyone, we're plastic but we still have fun."_

Giovana snapped.

"_I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me, papa-paparazzi!"_

And because she snapped, many bits of silver paper came fluttering down from the ceiling, flashing and blinding in the light, just as a paparazzi's camera flash would. The effect was stunning, if not a little painful on the eyes.

_"Baby, there's no other superstar, you know that I'll be your papa-paparazzi. Promise I'll be kind, but I won't stop until that boy is mine. Baby, you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me, papa-paparazzi!"_

And the song ended by fading out with the same beat as the beginning.

The crowd clapped and cheered, Giovana bowed four times. I'm pretty sure Jazz was a bit stunned by the still falling flurries of blinding bits of paper.

"Judges?" Rubberducky hopped up onstage.

"That was—" Waltz began—

"BABY YOU'LL BE FAMOUS, CHASE YOU DOWN UNTIL YOU LOVE ME, PAPA-PAPARAZZI!" Came a very off-tone voiced Crazywing, sliding rock star style downstage. Probably a bad idea on her part, for she ended up rolling and her wings looked a bit ruffled.

"Anywho," Waltz continued. "Not bad for not a fictional character. The blinding bits of paper were a nice touch."

"Rondo?"

The assassin nodded. "You are now in my rap group."

"What happened to the screamo band?" Giovana asked, brushing a piece of blinding paper out of her hair.

"Screamo is for hardcore people such as myself, but rap is truly where the money is." She rubbed her hands together menacingly.

"Tuba?"

The old guy, seemingly asleep and/or dead, was leaning back in his chair, eyes—er, eye—closed and no breathing.

Rondo turned and looked at him. "Looks almost like he's had a seizure. Hold on." She leaned close to his head. "He says. '_ohmygod that was the most amazing thing I've ever heard, too bad that I can't take flashing lights or else I would have given you a 99 for 10 and become your paparazzi.'_"

Giovana shrugged. "Eh, could've been worse. OH JAZZ!!! By the way, Beat, develop those pictures. I want them by Tuesday. BACKSTAGE, JAZZY OLD BOY!"

And the rebel leader was pulled backstage once again by his ponytail, and she set him up right in front of the exit door. And she waited. Expectantly.

"Uh, whatdya want?"

Giovana rocked back and forth on her heels, giggled, and blushed.

"Oh. Well, you see—" Jazz began, but then stopped himself. "I'll do it for twenty bucks." **(once again, whatever currency you use can be put there.) **

Giovana rolled her eyes and patted her pocket. "I've got eighteen."

Jazz shrugged. "Deal." **(Jazz fangirls skip this last bit.) **And he leant in and kissed her.

When it was over, Giovana rushed over to Flyleaf, rammed Crazywing out of the way, and took the Sharpie, scrawling "JAZZ JUST KISSED ME!" on the Sharpie Floor.

And she skipped out with the same flurry of black snow.

!FOOTNOTES!

[1] – Just be glad DustyStroodle doesn't rule the world, right?

[2] – I really like this line in the song, for a few reasons. Eyeliner because Jazz just seems like the kind of guy that might sometimes wear eyeliner. Cigarettes because he also seems like a badass smoker type. JUST REMEMBER SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU AND JAZZ DOES NOT SMOKE. Or does he? :D

** . * * * watch the snowflakes.**


	17. That's What You Get, Paramore

**HAPPY CHRISTMAS, HANUKAH, KWANZAA, RAMADAN, NEW YEAR, AND ANY HOLIDAYS I MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN…**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 16: That's What You Get, Paramore

SPECIAL THANKS TO MEI FIRE

Everyone blinked. The show resumes.

"The next winner," Rubberducky picked and unfolded one of the famous squares of paper. "Just happens to be our good buddy Fuego!"

"Sounds good to me." DustyStroodle said. "She's a blast to have around."

"I know, right?!" Crazywing jumped up and down. "AND she doesn't try to steal my man!"

_"I heard that!" _came a mysterious voice that no one heard.

"Anyway, I'll get her." Flyleaf said, exiting and re entering with Fuego in tow. The winner glanced around approvingly.

"Hey, did you redecorate?" she asked, putting her hands in her pockets and retrieving the CD. "It seems so much……… redder in here."

"Nopers." DustyStroodle said, taking the manila envelope and handing it to Crazywing. "Take your seat, if you would."

Fuego nodded and hopped over to the throne. "I think… for the love of God I think I'll choose F- oh look a Perfect Melon!!!" She jumped off the throne and gave it a big hug. "There we go…" she said, petting it. "Don't do that with your moustache you stupid little monster thingy…"

Fugue was tapping his foot impatiently. She had said "F," so that either meant him or Frederic. The composer looked like he was going to pass out from being called once again.

"Anywho…" Fuego said, setting the Perfect Melon down again and crossing her legs.

"Get on with it!" Fugue yelled.

"Why, Johnny, calm yourself!" the winner said. "Dear me, you nearly frightened my fluffy little Perfect Melon!"

"My name isn't Johnny!"

"Johnny. Fifty pushups. Now." Fuego said. "While he's doing that, I think Falsetto will be the next to sing. Falsetto, you shall be singing That's What You Get by Paramore. Run along now."

As Falsetto was being un-handcuffed, the winner once again picked up the little monster Perfect Melon and petted it.

On the other side of the curtain, excitement was brewing. A lot of people seemed to like Falsetto's performance of Ordinary in the original, and things were starting to get heated.

"Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll Call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

We all know about the pulling force. Sitting at the judges' table was Jazz, Claves, and… whatdya know, I'm sitting there myself!? Er, I must be having some sort of out of body experience; because I swear to you I am looking at myself sitting at the judges' table.

"ACTION!"

The music started quick and strong, very entertaining and fun to listen to…

_"No sir, well I don't wanna be the blame, not anymore. It's your turn, so take a seat we're settling the final score. Why do we like to hurt so much? I can't decide. You have made it harder just go on and why, all the possibilities, where I was wrong."_

Falsetto cringed. Yes. Another song to torment her. All these people seemed to know about the situation with her and Jazz! And most people didn't even know of their existence! How in the world did she get mixed up in this?

_"That's what you get when you let your heart win, woooooaaaahhh, that's what you get when you let your heart win, woooooaaaahhhh, I drowned out all my sense with the sound of its beating, and that's what you get when you let your heart win, wooooooaaaahhh."_

She did have to admit, the song was catchy. But it hurt. It hurt a lot to sing it, because she knew, of all things, that it was right. Ouch.

_"I wonder, how am I supposed to feel when you're not here?'Cause I burned every bridge I ever built when you were here. I still try holding on to silly things, I never learn. Oh why, all the possibilities, I'm sure you heard."_

She sighed into the microphone, and it produced a horrible crackling sound. _Note to self: never sigh into microphone again._

_"That's what you get when you let your heart win, wooooaaahhh, that's what you get when you let your heart win, woooaaaaahhhh, I drowned out all my sense with the sound of its beating, beating, and that's what you get when you let your heart win, woooooaaaahhh._

_ "Pain, make your way to me, to meee… And I'll always be just so inviting. If I ever start to think straight, this heart will start a riot in me, let's start, start HEY!"_

Her voice almost cracked. She was really hating this… too many bad memories… too many similarities to her own life…

_ "Why do we like to hurt so much? Oh, why do we like to hurt so much?"_

_ True words, friend. _Falsetto said. _You always, always, _always _fall for the worst person at the worst of times…_

_ "That's what you get when you let your heart win! Woooooaaah!!!" _The crowd was joining her! All the brokenhearted people, who also fell in love with the wrong person… and Jazz, sitting there, looking all professional-like… Claves, looking very smug.

She had no idea there were that many…

_"That's what you get when you let your heart win, woooooaaah! That's what you get when you let your heart win, wooooaaaahhh, Now I can't trust myself with anything but this, and that's what you get when you let your heart win, wooooaaah!"_

The crowd erupted in an explosion of happy clapping and screaming. She even saw an impromptu sign in the crowd reading "PARAMORE + FALSETTO = WIN!"

DustyStroodle came up and took the microphone from her. "Quite wonderful, Falsetto. What do our judges have to say?"

Jazz was first. "Quite a nice job, Fals. You really understood that song, didn't you?"

She froze. "Uh. No. It made no sense whatsoever to me."

He shrugged. "Looked like you did."

"Claves?"

Claves smirked. Her eye twitched. "I can't… Badmouth… performance… so melodic…"

"Gallow?"

Here I am, watching myself give Falsetto a wonderful four-star review. [1]

"Nice job, Falsetto!" I said, as I watch myself. "Since You are a bit of a neutral character in my book but a kick-ass fighter when we're beating the Annihilator, and also based on your vocals and 'woahs," I'm going to give you 13 and ½ stars!!!"

Falsetto blinked, dazed. "Out of how many again?"

"Twelve."

"Ahhhhh…"

"Nice job, Falsetto, and I believe we have to get a move along at the moment, since …" DustyStroodle kept talking, but Falsetto wasn't listening. Thirteen and a half… Jazz said she sounded good… even Claves couldn't badmouth her performance…

She was re-handcuffed into line as Fuego and Fugue argued over what Fugue's name was.

"WELL I'M THE WINNER AND I SAY IT'S JOHNNY! OMG FALSETTO YOU'RE BACK THAT WAS SO GREAT I'M GLAD I TAPED IT I'M GOING TO KEEP IT FOREVER!" The winner jumped a foot in the air and floated gently down. "I am going to give you a macadamia nut cookie to commemorate this event!!!" She reached into her pocket and gave her the aforementioned cookie.

"Great. Thanks." Falsetto grinned weakly. She didn't bother mentioning she was allergic to macadamia nuts. And sugar. And cookies in general.

Fuego hopped back to the sharpie floor and scribbled down, "THE CAKE IS A LIE the cake is a lie thecakeisalie…"[2]

"I shall see you all soon! COME, MY WONDERFUL NEW PET PERFECT MELON AND KEEP YOUR MOUSTACHE TO YOURSELF!" Fuego hopped out, and the Perfect Melon (we shall name him Jorge) hopped out after her.

!FOOTNOTES!

[1] – Technically, it was a 13 and ½ star review. But you get the gist.

[2] – .com. My new favorite website.

**I must explain myself: writing has sucked lately, and I have had this planned out for so long and I just had to get it down and I apologize to Mei Fire for the long wait etc. etc. etc. etc………..**


	18. I Like Chopin, Gazebo

**child of the gallows returns!!!! Sorry, my computer decided to get a virus and die. And I know it's been a while, so enjoy!!!**

Eternal Karaoke: ENCORE

An Eternal Sonata Fanfic

By child of the gallows

Chapter 18: I Like Chopin, by Gazebo

SPECIAL THANKS TO EVBTHEWEREDOGAN

"Guys, we've really got to find a way to shake this up." Flyleaf complained, leaning back in her chair and bouncing the THoF in her hands. "Methinks our viewers are getting bored of just having their names predetermined and then getting 'randomly' picked out of a cheap top hat."

DustyStroodle nodded in agreement. "Yeah. We have to somehow make this more entertaining."

"But how?" Rubberducky frowned, tapping her foot. What was fun, entertaining, stupid, and Eternal Sonata themed at the same time?

Crazywing shrugged. "I don't know."

Flyleaf sighed and reached into the THoF. "I'm sure we'll get an idea eventually. But meanwhile, the next winner just happens to be EvbTheWeredogan."

"That is absolutely fantastic, I will go get her right now." DustyStroodle said, exiting and reentering with two girls.

"Um… DustyStroodle, who's the other girl?" Rubberducky asked, pointing to the girl who was not Evb.

"Oh. This is my friend KaryRyze." Evb said. "I just thought I'd bring her because she was going to be one of the judges anyway."

Kary was grinning like a psychopathic nut. "Nice to meetcha." She said.

"The more the merrier!" Flyleaf said, though really all she was thinking about was advertising. "You know what to do, Evb."

"I do." She says, handing over the manila envelope and jogging over to the throne. "Fugue," she announces, "you'll be singing a song by Gazebo. I'm not going to tell you the name because I don't want you to kill me right here and now, but just know that I have a feeling you'll like it quite a bit."

Fugue frowned and attempted to cross his arms, failing because of the handcuffs. "Alright." He said suspiciously.

"OHMYGOD IT'S THE ACTUAL REAL FUGUE OH SCHWEET OH PLEASE CAN I ESCORT HIM ONSTAGE IT'S MY LIFE'S DREAM!!!!!!" Kary screamed, fangirlism taking over quite quickly.

"I guess…" Evb said. Kary squeed and ripped the gray-haired assassin from his handcuffs, dragging him onstage so quickly it left a fire in their wake.

Evb followed her friend onto the stage, and three of the four hostesses followed her.

DustyStroodle clapped her hands together menacingly. "Poor Fugue." She sighed melodramatically, before calling out "Lights! Camera! Scribe! Music! Roll call!"

"HERE!"

"Judges!"

As you may have expected, KaryRyze was sitting in the first judges' seat, and EvbtheWeredogan in the second. In a rush to find a third judge, the two girls had just grabbed the nearest Agogo. It glowed.

"ACTION!!!"

The music had a nice beginning, and some expert piano work. Fugue read the first words tentatively…

"_Remember, that piano, so delightful, unusual, that classic, sensation, sentimental, confusion…"_

KaryRyze squeed rather loudly, and the music came to a scratchy stop. Fugue gave her a death glare. "Explain." He said dangerously.

"Soo… seeeeexxxyyy…" Kary said, nearly fainting. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Don't get mad at me or else it will get worse…"

The music started over.

_"Remember, that piano, so delightful, unusual, that classic, sensation, sentimental, confusion… Used to say—"_

Kary squeed again. Fugue rolled his eyes. The song was making him seriously nervous. And when he got nervous, he usually had to hurt something. Why hadn't Evb told him what it was called?

Evb pulled a roll of duct tape out of her pocket and cut off a piece, slapping it over KaryRyze's mouth. "That should keep her quiet." She said. "Begin again."

The music began again.

_"Remember, that piano, so delightful, unusual, that classic, sensation, sentimental, confusion… Used to say… I like—"_

Fugue stared in horror at the next word…

"_Chopin."_

He felt a little piece of him die. No, he couldn't sing this song… it was torture, literally, he was NOT going to say that he liked Chopin no he wasn't…

He knew why Evb did not tell him the name of the song…

_"Love me now and again… wooooaaaah…"_

The fangirls squeed. Including myself.

_"Rainy days, never say goodbye, to desire when we are together, rainy days, growing in your eyes, tell me where's my way?"_

Fugue swallowed a little bit of vomit that rose to his throat. His eye twitched. Dear lord….

_"Imagine, your face in, a sunshine, reflection, a vision, of blue skies, forever, distractions… Used to say… I like C—Chopin…"_

Fugue could barely force the word out. Oh, he was going to kill that man a thousand times over…

_"Love me now and again… woooaah… Rainy days, never say goodbye, to desire when we are together, rainy days, growing in your eyes, tell me where's my way?"_

He shuddered. He wanted to go into fetal position and go to his happy place (a torture chamber) like his psychiatrist had told him…

_"Rainy days, never say goodbye, to desire when we are together, rainy days, growing in your eyes, tell me where's my way? Rainy days, never say goodbye, to desire when we are together, rainy days, growing in your eyes, tell me where's my waaaaaay?"_

The song ended. And Fugue was scarred for life…

DustyStroodle skipped onstage and clapped Fugue on the back. "Nice job, Johnny! What do our judges have to say?"

KaryRyze grabbed the microphone and ripped the duct tape from her mouth. "Fugue you have a sexy voice whenever you talk or sing I just can't help but become a fangirl and squee my heart out I hope we can stay together forever—" Evb re-covered her mouth with a new piece of duct tape.

She then calmly turned to Fugue and also began to fangirl. "Fugue, I love your monocle and that song just fit you perfectly. I hope Frederic thinks so too…"

DustyStroodle had to support his weight as he nearly fainted from a mixture of horror, disgust, and a feeling he didn't even want to _think_ about… [1]

The Agogo rang a few times in a tempo and pitch that sounded oddly identical to the piano in the song. We'll take that as a 'good job.'

The winner, the human judge, the hostess and the fictional character all went backstage. And, of course, all hell broke loose.

There were two things that were pretty much happening simultaneously, so we'll try to make this simple.

1. Fugue stalked over to the composer and punched him in the face. Frederic nearly lost his footing and sent the whole line tumbling with him. "I DO NOT LIKE YOU I NEVER HAVE LIKED YOU AND I NEVER WILL LIKE YOU!!!" Fugue screamed. Frederic (who had gotten a nosebleed) frowned.  
"I don't care if you don't like me, because you pronounced my name so badly I don't really care for you much either!!!" He used his magic to unlock the handcuffs [2] and punched Fugue right back. Fugue pulled out his katana. Frederic pulled out his baton. And an epic, bloody, and impossibly sexy (to fangirls) fight ensued.

2. KaryRyze and Evb, taking advantage of the fight between two objects of many people's fangirlisms, immediately set up a bets booth and earn at least ten thousand dollars (**once again, whatever currency**) in bets on who would win this battle of epic proportions. They split it 60/40, with Evb getting the 60 (because she was the winner) and KaryRyze getting the 40 (because she had no problem with getting 4,000 dollars for watching two extremely good looking fictional characters fight.

Sadly, it ended quite soon as Fugue had Frederic in a headlock. Evb signed the floor quickly, turning to leave, but just then—

"HOLY CRAP I JUST HAD THE MOST BRILLIANT IDEA!!!" Crazywing shouted. Pulling out a dartboard, she hung it up on the wall. And, with a few sharpie alterations, the dartboard was magically transformed into the DARTBOARD OF FATE!!!!

"No better way to explain than to wait until next chapter!" she said, tossing a dart. "See y'all soon!!!"

!FOOTNOTES!

[1] – I'M SO SORRY I JUST HAD TO. Lol. I hate being a fangirl.

[2] – I do realize that Frederic being able to use magic is a pretty controversial topic (in mah mind, I'm not sure about yours). Because, I mean, Polka says he can't use magic but I have a tendency to disagree with everything Polka does. So, just because Polka said he can't use magic, he can. TAKE THAT POLKA!!!!!

**If you enjoyed this little bit of cheap Frederic/Fugue madness, may I recommend the story **_**A Sonata for the Moon **_**by syntic. It's one of my favorite fanfics, and it's 100% adorable. **

**Otherwise… have a nice day.**


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